Salvation's Hands
by Snow Leopard Pasha
Summary: Path 1 Sequel to Catalyst Array. Read that first. When Eden returns from Wutai, he finds several surprises waiting for him, and several of the old problems he and his companions are already facing are about to rear their ugly heads. The fate of the world hangs in the balance!
1. List of Current Turks (V3)

**List of Current Turks in Salvation's Hands**

These are the current Turks on December 9th of the year 0000 (when Catalyst Array ends and Salvation's Hands starts), by code name, primary weapon, age, Rank, general hiring date, hometown, and birth name. This version of the list should be the same as the V2 one I did for Catalyst Array, just cleaned up (for example, Veld is no longer listed, as he's no longer officially a Turk) and showing only the Rank under the new system, so the additional data from the Catalyst Array lists (V1 and V2) won't be in this one. Also, I've advanced a few people's ages based on the birth dates I picked for them.

 **If you haven't read Catalyst Array, do so before you read Salvation's Hands or this story won't make any sense!**

Later in the story, if anyone wants me to do so, I'll do an updated list with the final roster for the Turks in Salvation's Hands, though I'm only expecting three additions to the list at most.

The most important part of this list is really just the first two (bold) items, as the capitalized primary weapons indicate their default 'name' in Before Crisis for those who aren't familiar with the BC Turks.

 _ **List Data Order:**_

 _ **Code Name, Primary Weapon**_ _, Age, Rank, Hiring Date, Hometown, Birth Name_

 **Rude, martial arts** , 30+, Grand Master, 1994, unknown (maybe Costa del Sol), Blade Rusk

 **Balto, Katana** , 22, Grand Master, 1996 February, Gongaga, Tomas Balfour

 **Tseng** **(Director)** **, gun** , 20, Legend, 1996 November, Wutai, Ren Kaoin

 **Kariya (Legend), bombs** , 40+, Grand Master, 1997 February, Junon, Sidney Dalton

 **Reno** **(Second in Command)** **, EMR** , 18, Grand Master, 1998 April, unknown (probably Midgar Slums), Noah Reid

 **Maur, Martial Arts (Male)** , 25, Platinum, 1998 September, Costa del Sol, Urban Rehema

 **Judet, Martial Arts (Female)** , 24, Grand Master, 1998 October, Icicle Inn, Harriet Judson

 **Cissnei, Shuriken** , 15, Platinum, 1999 March 23, unknown/Midgar orphanage, Neirine Cissero

 **Illis, Knife** , 20, Leader, 0000 January 22, Corel, Lisa Ilya

 **Emma, Gun** , 18, Leader, 0000 March 21, Midgar Slums, Maria Emerio

 **Ruluf, Two Guns** , 22, Gold, 0000 June 10, Midgar Slums (Sector 6), Russel Thorluf

 **Freyra, Shotgun** , 22, Gold, 0000 June 17, Mideel, Kara Freyne

 **Alvis, Rod** , 19, Expert, 0000 July 4, Midgar Slums, Dennis Alvar

 **Quis, Nunchaku** , 18, Ace, 0000 August 9, Bone Village, Travis Quaten

 **Eden, variety/magic** , 16, Ace, 0000 September 10/back-dated to August 29, Amestris, Edward Elric

 **Vant, gun** , 50, Ace, 0000 September 11, unknown/Nibelheim (for lack of another place), Vincent Valentine

End List

Is there anything else you want to see on this list? If so, please let me know so I can add it!


	2. 01-Surprise Arrival

**A/N:** Like always, I don't own either FFVII or FMA:B/manga. I'm only saying this once!

 **68 chapters of Salvation's Hands are sort of like spoilers for Fates of Worlds and vice versa, so just be aware of that. However, if your goal is the new third path of this monster crossover,** **Fates of Worlds—Dimensions, the fastest way to it is by reading the first 33 chapters of FoW, then skipping to FoWD when I start posting it in the new year (likely timeline is sometime in February). If you're planning to read all 3 paths, just keep in mind that chapter 33 of FoW is the separation point between FoW and FoWD, though you can still get to it by reading to chapter 68 of SH, then jumping over.**

 **If you didn't read Catalyst Array first, you won't understand most of this story, so please go back and read it! I won't be re-introducing or re-describing people if they've been given new names or switched to a different canon name for main use.**

For those who wanted to see other Amestrians land on Gaia, understand that Truth decided who passed through and why (there's a 'reason' involved which most people likely wouldn't suspect), but Truth isn't dictating their paths once on Gaia—that's more Minerva's territory or their own choice. Because Truth decided certain people would arrive on the Planet, there are reasons for each one of them to be there, no matter how impressive (or otherwise) you found them to be in FMA: Brotherhood or the manga, and about half of them _didn't choose_ to cross over—they'd have been happy staying on the other side, and had, in fact, _planned_ to stay in Amestris. Yes, Truth is high-handed. Did anyone actually think differently after watching/reading FMA:B?

Also, I admittedly was trying to pick characters I thought I'd be able to write reasonably well, and was thinking about what would happen to Amestris if, say, both Mustang and Armstrong (Olivier) were sent to Gaia—the result wouldn't have been good. As such, I really didn't like the idea of taking both of the leaders of the coup d'etat on Father, and Truth is a lot of things, but it's not stupid and I can't see it wanting Amestris to collapse in the name of saving Gaia.

As such, read on to find out the final list of who I chose!

 **A quick reminder (because it was only briefly mentioned after the raid on Deepground):**

Zack (and nearly every other Second Class, except Kunzel and Luxiere) has been promoted to SOLDIER First Class, but because of the reason for promotion, he's still being 'mentored' by Angeal. Nearly every Third has also been promoted to Second Class. Only ten Thirds are still ranked as such—they're waiting for the new batch of Cadets to join them so the number of Thirds will start going up again.

Surprise Arrival

When the Highwind landed on the landing platform near the top of the Shinra building in Midgar around six that afternoon, there were some people already waiting for them there, including Reeve, Rufus, Reno, and Illis. Reno was clearly there as Rufus' guard while both Eden and Sephiroth were away. Some of the ones waiting there were clearly mechanics for Highwind maintenance, and some were other SOLDIERs greeting their comrades back and giving them reports and instructions. That was the first time Ed had seen so many Shinra employees wearing the black uniform Sora, Angeal, and Zack wore, and most of them without any additions to their uniform the way Genesis and Sephiroth had.

Yufi still looked a little ill and miserable as Eden, Felicia, and she walked off the Highwind behind Sephiroth, Angeal, and Zack, but she was at least more alert and aware than she had been while the Highwind had been in the air for its eight hour flight. The nine-year-old girl was clinging to his arm and using him to support her weight while she looked around carefully at her new surroundings. When the three SOLDIERs reached the bottom of the ramp, Rufus motioned them all over, so the six joined the four of them.

As they got within speaking range, Rufus said, "Director Lazard asked that I pass on to you a rather urgent request to head to his office, General, Commander." Both nodded with slight sighs and quickly headed for the door into the building, Zack following his mentor as usual. Rufus then faced Eden and said, "It'll be good to have you back, Eden. We had best begin with introductions, and you are best equipped to give them."

"Okay," the blond agreed a bit tiredly as he looked around at the group. His gaze went to Felicia and Yufi as he said, "These people are Rufus Shinra, President Shinra's son, Reno of the Turks, who is Rufus' guard currently, Reeve Tuesti, the Executive of Urban Development, and Illis of the Turks, who—I'm guessing has been assigned to act as the primary guard for the Princess." The last he directed at her questioningly, to which she gave a small nod of acknowledgment.

His gaze then went to Rufus and Reeve as he went on with the introductions. "This is Felicia Pereld, the leader of Gaia's Refuge—I'm sure you know what that is or you wouldn't be meeting with her." His gaze was on Reeve in amusement as he said that, and he received an amused smile and nod in reply, so looked down at Yufi. "And this young lady is Princess Yufi Kisaragi, Emperor Godo Kisaragi's daughter. Are you taking over from here, Illis?" Eden asked the black haired woman curiously.

Illis gave a smile and nod as she agreed, "I am." She then looked down at the girl to address her directly, "It's nice to meet you, Princess."

Yufi made a small face, then pouted as she looked up at Eden. "I really can't just have you as my guard?" At least she was finally starting to recover her own balance once she was back on something solid.

Felicia sighed, Eden held a hand to his head like it hurt, Reeve chuckled, Rufus snorted in amusement, and Reno laughed outright at the words, even as Illis blinked several times, then raised a questioning brow at the blond Turk.

Before she or her fellow Turk could say anything, Eden's PHS rang and he saw Tseng's number when he opened it. After a hesitant moment, he answered it with, "What do you need, Tseng?" The others stared in surprise.

"Have you arrived back in Midgar?" the man asked.

"Yeah, a few minutes ago. Why?"

"It looks like we need you in the interrogation rooms, Eden." After stating those words, the Wutain hung up, so the blond pulled his phone away from his face and stared at it in surprise for a moment.

He then looked up at Illis and Reno questioningly to ask, "Have either of you heard anything about a reason I'd be needed in the interrogation rooms?"

Reno shook his head as Rufus, Reeve, and Felicia traded apprehensive looks, the red haired man saying, "Guard duty keeps me somewhat outta the loop, yo."

"It might have to do with whoever they brought back from the raid Genesis returned from a few hours ago," Illis offered.

"...Oh, okay," the blond blinked, then looked down at the Wutain girl at his side. "Yufi, Shinra is very different from Wutai, and you won't see those differences here or with me. You need to go with Illis and get used to having her around, as well as learning about this new society you've decided to try living in. You also need to get signed in to the Academy so you can take lessons and meet other kids, like a girl your age named Shelke. Okay?"

The girl frowned a bit in puzzlement and asked, "Who's Shelke? You've never talked about her before."

Giving his head a shake, the younger Turk said, "It's up to Shelke to tell you her story if she wants to, but Princess—you had best rethink your definition of what constitutes a hard life before you decide to badmouth her, because her life has been _much_ worse than yours. Frankly, the fact that she's still sane shows a mental and emotional strength you have yet to show me. There's a lot you need to learn, things you can't learn by staying attached at the hip to me."

Slowly, Yufi sighed and nodded, then looked at Illis in surprise as the woman held out a hand and said, "Let's go look around, then."

"Why are you being nice? I pretty much ignored you before!" the Wutain girl said, obviously confused.

Illis cocked her head to the side and said, "I once did the same thing to Tseng, when I had just gotten caught stealing. He gave me a chance, anyway. I consider it fair turnabout to give you that same chance. It's up to you whether you'll take it or not."

After a pause, the girl carefully released Eden and lifted her hand slowly up to the one Illis held out to her, gently taking it like she was afraid it would be withdrawn. When it wasn't, her grip tightened on the woman's hand and the lady Turk answered it with a firm grip as well, then led the nine-year-old inside. Once the door had shut and several more of the stream of SOLDIERs and Infantrymen who had been leaving the roof had left, Eden heaved a relieved sigh.

"I hope you never reacted like that after leaving _my_ company," Rufus frowned faintly, and Eden gave a wry grin.

"I didn't. Then again, I never actually _had_ to drag you over my knee and spank you, either. She's not a bad person, just...a mass of walking contradictions. And don't you lot have work to do, too?" the blond Turk asked in amusement.

"That we do," Reeve agreed, looking at Felicia as he extended a hand towards the doorway leading inside. "This way, please." He and Rufus led the way inside with Felicia and Reno following.

Eden went inside with them, but his path diverged from theirs at the elevator bank as they took one up to floor sixty-five from floor sixty and he took another to floor fifty-six, where many of the Turks' offices-made-interrogation-rooms were. When he got to the hall in question, he was surprised to see several Infantrymen standing at doors up and down the hall as guards, but Emma was standing outside the nearest room with a puzzled expression on her face as she eyed the door uncertainly. Being offices, the rooms didn't have windows looking into them from inside the building, so he had no idea which room he'd find Tseng in.

"Hey, Emma," he said to his fellow Turk. She turned to look at him with a nod, so he asked, "What's going on?"

"Commander Rhapsodos and his team brought back six people from a raid in the Slums, but he's not really sure how to take them. That's why they were brought here to be questioned independently, but it seems there are even more questions than answers the more they say. By the way, welcome back from Wutai, Eden," the woman explained, then finished off with a greeting.

"Okay...Thanks," the blond teen blinked. "And...which room is Tseng in, since he called for me to join him here?"

She pointed at the door in front of her, then said, "I really wish I knew why he bothered to bring back kids, though...None of them seem like Turk or SOLDIER material, or even as threats to Shinra."

"Kids?" the younger blond asked in surprise.

She nodded. "One of them is in here."

Drawing in a breath and bracing himself for something unpleasant, Eden opened the door as he asked, "You wanted to see—"

At that moment, he caught sight of the blond boy in the room and froze in complete shock as he stared at him. His mind couldn't even process what he was seeing, though he vaguely registered the boy running up to him and hugging him happily, even as Tseng and Genesis watched with raised brows. He hadn't closed the door, he recalled absently—only to realize the knob wasn't in his hand anymore and the door had closed behind him. Vaguely, he could hear the blond talking to him while still hugging him, but he was still too stunned to react and couldn't actually hear a word the boy was saying.

Suddenly, he felt a stinging sensation on the back of his head and yelped as his eyes turned in the direction the stinging had come from as he asked, "What the Hell, Tseng?" After all, it was the Wutain standing beside the two blonds.

"You went into shock, Eden," the black haired man answered dryly, then returned to his seat to the further side of the table, even as the blond boy drew back a bit to stare at the sixteen-year-old in surprise.

"Hey...why do they keep calling you 'Eden'?" the boy asked, expression puzzled.

For the first time, Ed was able to look at the other blond and see him clearly—and better yet, hear him clearly. The boy had cut his hair short in the style he'd had as a ten-year-old and had blue eyes. Despite being a year younger than Eden, he was equally as tall (or slightly taller) with a bit of a stronger build, though it wasn't the same kind of lean, hard muscle he'd had five years ago—yet. At the moment, he was wearing blue jeans and a plain, white t-shirt, but all of his features were stronger overall than Ed's. Otherwise, they were very much alike in appearance, though the younger was more relaxed and easy-going than the older.

A closer look around the room showed mostly what he'd have expected from an interrogation room: a single, fair-sized table and three chairs. Two of the chairs were to one side of the table, where Genesis sat in the nearer chair and Tseng sat in the further one, but the third chair, across the table from them, was unoccupied at the moment. On the table was a tray of mostly-eaten food, and the window which would have looked out over the city had been covered by some metal shutters which were to the inside of the window and locked with a digital mechanism at the top.

"They call me Eden because that's my name as a Turk," he said as he turned back to Alphonse—his younger brother. "What are you doing here? How did you get here?"

"Through the Alchemist's Gate, just like you did. Except, it didn't turn out the way we thought it would, and we had less supplies and things when we came. It had to be better than your trip because you didn't even _have_ supplies, and we were so worried about you!" Al replied eagerly.

"Through the..." His brain stalled momentarily once again before he yelled at Al, "You came after me, you threw your life away back home to come after me? Then what the Hell was the point of trying to _save_ it?" The younger blond stared at him in shock. "And who's 'we'?" He proceeded to stumble over to the table, where Genesis jumped up in surprise and moved out of the way so Eden could collapse in his seat and rest his head in one hand, elbows braced on the table. "God, why did this have to happen _now_? I was just starting to settle in and—!"

Al just gaped at the helpless tone in his brother's voice before slowly shaking his head and asking, "You're angry we came to get you?"

" _Get me_?" the older blond asked with a snort. " _Get me_ when this was obviously the price I paid for you to return to life after—after _everything_? What were you _thinking_?"

After a minute of silence, Al moved back to the seat across the table and sat down as he said, "I remembered what happened in that space. If you wanted to save me, you had to give up Amestris—your home, your family, your life there. You agreed to be sent away to some other world—" (Genesis and Tseng traded completely confused expressions which went unnoticed by the two blonds.) "—which was in danger, where you knew nothing and had nothing, but I was sent back to Amestris and dropped in the middle of the battlefield with Father and his minions. Well, what was left of it." He paused and said quietly and with feeling, "What I was thinking, what _we_ were thinking, was that you had done so much for us, sacrificed so much for us, that we were going to do everything we could to find you and bring you home." Al paused again before asking, "How is that wrong?"

Eden felt fingers on his knee—Tseng's unless he and Genesis had traded seats. It reminded him of one of the basic creeds and rules his new employers lived by: Turks are family. Slowly shaking his head as he tried to process his thoughts and feelings, the blond Turk released a sigh and asked, "Al, what do you remember Truth saying when it told me the price I'd pay?" It occurred to him to wonder what Tseng and Genesis thought of how freely Al had just blurted out that they were from another world. If _Al_ was being so careless, it was even possible he'd already said things like that to them. Why?

"What do you mean?" the younger blond asked in confusion.

"...When I gave up everything, it was a one-way trip, wasn't it?" He slowly looked up to see his brother's wide eyes. "This is a one-way trip. There's no going back. I never could have gone back, and all of you who are here now can't go back, either. Am I wrong to have assessed things that way?"

After a moment, a teary-eyed Alphonse answered quietly, "No." He then asked, "But you'd have come back if you could, right?"

"Now that's rubbing salt in an open wound," the older blond answered, closing his eyes for a moment—and remembering everyone in the Turks, the SOLDIERs he'd met, Felicia, Zirconaide, Shalua, Shelke, Aeris, Yufi, even Rufus. Finally, he released a sigh and looked up, his gaze even as he said, "But my answer is 'no'."

"No! But—how? Why?" Al gasped, leaning forward in dismay.

Crossing his arms and sitting back, Eden replied, "Truth wasn't kidding when he said these people needed help, and there are—a limited number of people who are even capable of figuring things out. But it's more than that, too, and why this is actually one of the hardest decisions I've ever had to make. Do you know anything about Shinra, the Turks, SOLDIER, or—well, any of the basic functionalities of this world's semi-government system?"

"Not much," Al admitted with a small face. "This is Shinra Headquarters and they pretty much act as the 'government,' I guess around most of the world. SOLDIERs have a uniform like the Commander's, and Turks wear black suits like yours. We're not really clear on their functions, though."

With a small shrug, the older blond explained, "The SOLDIERs count as Shinra's version of the State Alchemists. Infantrymen like the ones Genesis was commanding wear dark blue, but they have a different chain of command and belong to a different military division. The Turks are basically Shinra's version of the investigative branch of the Amestrian Military—in short, spies, murderers, kidnappers, guards, talent scouts...You name it, they do it."

"Did they force you to join because you had such impressive skills?" Al asked in alarm. Tseng snorted at the question as Genesis snickered into his hand and Eden gave his brother a wryly amused smile.

"No, Al. I joined entirely of my own will," the older brother answered, and the younger's jaw sagged open. "Listen, I turned up here with nothing, and it was only because this world's sentience, called Minerva, has been—practically plotting a whole system to help me get by that I found things to sell so I could get gear, food, and shelter. But by the time I got to Junon City, I'd been scouted by the Turks—usually, that would mean I was a SOLDIER Candidate, but in my case, they wanted me to join them, not SOLDIER. Their leader at the time was really lenient with me and gave me a lot of help without asking for anything in return, but the more I thought about the situation here and the people I was meeting, the more in favor of the Turks I became."

When Al just shook his head in confusion, Eden went on, "One reason to join was because it gave me back my ability to research and the income to do so—the same reasons I went for the State Alchemists. Turks have the prime place when it comes to knowing everything and manipulating it as they see fit, something SOLDIER doesn't have, and they've got connections to everyone from little girls in the Slums to the President and his _dog_."

"Eden, behave," Tseng cut in, lips twitching in amusement.

"What dog?" Genesis asked in bemusement.

"What, you never met Dark Nation when Rufus asked you to guard him?" the blond Turk asked the red haired man over his shoulder.

"Sorry, no. So, what dog?" Genesis asked again in reply.

"Dark Nation is a black Blood Taste from out in the wastes that I tamed for Rufus because he was lonely, or so he claimed," Tseng answered. "That was when I was still a Rookie, though."

"But Ed, that couldn't have been enough for you to join such horrible people..." Al cut in softly, blue eyes focused on his brother's golden. "Even the State Alchemists weren't _that_ bad-off, even though they'd been ordered to do terrible things before..."

"Yeah, you're saying _my family_ are 'such horrible people'," Eden said simply to his brother, whose eyes widened again. "I had no choice but to build a new life—I couldn't go back and I had no one and nothing, so what _else_ would you have expected me to do? At the time, I had no idea I'd see any of the Turks as brothers and sisters, or one of them as a father figure, but that's what happened. No, before you ask, I wasn't replacing you, ever. My being told 'Turks are family' didn't happen until fairly recently because I couldn't have handled it any sooner, and it only came to my attention because one of my 'brothers' got all protective of me."

For a moment, the blond Turk stopped and leaned forward to rest his arms on the table as he gazed at the younger blond across from him. This was all still mind-boggling, and his brain was actually ready to engage in a complete systematic breakdown, something he was holding off only because he had to have this discussion now that it had been dropped on him.

"You have no idea just how screwed up I actually was, and these people are the ones helping me fix that. These so-called 'horrible people' go up against their superiors in my favor, work behind Shinra's back to try to fix as much as they're able to, and some have senses of honor even more impressive than Major Armstrong's. You don't _know them_ or know anything about them, but for a dysfunctional family, they're _way_ better than ours, because they don't go pissing off and making their siblings or kids or nieces and nephews or whatever handle things alone. Anything. It's not just about guarding one another's backs on missions, it's about helping one another sort out problems that need to be sorted—and oddly enough, I like being the one everyone protects for a change."

"You need it with how high-maintenance you are, though, Eden," Genesis informed him, looking amused.

"Yeah. You guys are the first ones to _do_ something about that, though," the sixteen-year-old answered over his shoulder, sounding a little amused.

"But we did all that, too! Why would you choose them over us—they're not even your blood family," the fifteen-year-old blond asked, still confused and dismayed.

Returning his gaze to Al, the older of the two answered, "Don't think it's an easy choice, Al, because it's not. Amestris is safe now, and it's getting back on track because there were a lot of people formulating what they'd replace the existing system _with_. The people there may miss me and I miss them, but they don't _need_ my help, they aren't relying on me for anything...And I actually think being there was hurting me more than helping me. Also, the more I think about it, the less I find I could willingly leave behind the bonds I have here.

"What I've been finding is that 'family' is way more than shared blood—it's feelings, experiences, understanding, tolerance, change. For me, nothing ever changed in Amestris, and part of the problem was exactly that dynamic—it was always up to me to protect or help everyone else...No one bothered to help me when I needed it, never forced me to face things that were wrong or slapped some sense into me. Well, a few people did, most of them entirely the wrong way, and the one who did me the most good is dead. Gaia and its people seem to be _way_ more dynamic, flexible, and changing, and of the ones I've been meeting, they want me to be healthy and happy, not just take me for all I'm worth—kind of ironic given the basic functions of the Turks. They're like polar opposites, and how much I've grown here, as a person and in such a short time, is pretty much the proof. I'm not saying the Amestrians are bad people, just that—they were used to me, so didn't see anything wrong, I guess."

After a long silence, Al asked, "Does that mean you're going to cast us aside?" He had a strange expression in his eyes that time, like he was about to break.

"Who's the 'us'? You still haven't answered that," Eden asked in reply, not sure he was _able_ to help them. If Al looked like he was about to break, Ed probably did, too.

With a small sigh, the younger boy recited, "Winry, Mei (1), Teacher, and Amal—you knew him as Scar (2)—then Miles, Liam, and Mick from Briggs, and Mustang, Hawkeye, and Fuery."

"Oh, Hell..." the older blond muttered, holding a hand to his forehead to ward off a headache on top of his brain's attempts to shut down. "Look, I need some time to work this out—I don't actually _know_ what I'm able to do for you or not, and I don't want to promise something I can't be guaranteed I can give."

He then abruptly rose and walked out of the room, stopping in the hall near Emma as he leaned on the wall tiredly. She rested a hand on his shoulder to let him know he wasn't alone, that he had people who would help him. As much of a comfort it was to have the reminder, it wasn't staving off his pending shut-down or the throbbing in his head.

 **Notes:**

(1) As noted very briefly in part one, the English spelling became 'May', but Xing is based on China, so her name should have been spelled Mei.

(2) At the end of Brotherhood, Scar became nameless again, and let Olivier Armstrong rename him—we never found out what she named him (if she did), so I completely made this up. I did think Amal, which means 'hopeful' in Arabic, would have suited the situation at the end of Brotherhood, and because I see the Ishbalans as similar in some ways to Arabs, my thought was that Armstrong would have wanted to honor his heritage in the hopes of helping to create a stronger bond between Amestrians and Ishbalans.


	3. 02-Past Catching Up

**A/N:** Ed's breakdown in this chapter should be the only one in this version of Part 2 (or, at least, it should be the only one this severe), so no, Ed's not going to get all weepy for the whole story—this is just because of the bombshell (Al and the others) he got dropped on him. Under the circumstances, this is actually completely understandable. What just happened to him is like anyone reading this having watched their family die, having mourned them and let them go, and just at the moment they were letting them go, the dead all suddenly appeared in front of them alive again.

Or, another way to say it: Take world view, tilt 180 degrees, put in blender, serve chilled.

This also says a lot about how much he trusts Rude and Balto, as well as the other Turks, though with the others (or Al at least) openly blurting out things like 'we're from another world', the point of Ed trying to hide that fact sort of became moot.

Sorry about the rehash of the events in Amestris, but this IS the first time the Turks are hearing it, and anyone reading it closely should see some flaws in Ed's thought processes which will have to be addressed—things he missed while living in Amestris.

Also, because someone sent me a PM about this thought—it could have been a very different scenario if everyone had been dropped in different places around Gaia. The reason they weren't? Very simply, it takes a huge amount of energy to open a single portal to another world, so it's not very feasible or logical for Truth to have opened multiple portals when dropping them all in the same place would suffice just as well.

Past Catching Up

As Eden stood leaning against the wall with Emma's hand on his shoulder, Tseng asked, "You _do_ realize we'd take your word on what to do with them, right?"

"Yeah, but I can't think straight right now, and that list...Which ones of the ones he named are in these offices?" the sixteen-year-old asked, exhaustion in his voice.

"Winry Rockbell, Mei Chang, Karam (1) Miles, Liam Roach, and Mick Murray are the ones here," the older man answered.

"Damn. That means the others, especially Teacher, will be on the warpath..." the younger blond sighed.

"What do you mean?" the Wutain asked in mild surprise.

"Teacher—Izumi Curtis—is _really_ strong, even without Materia, and you just took her favorite kids in the world hostage. She's not going to take kindly to that, regardless of how you've been treating them or your reason for doing it," Eden replied tiredly. "Mustang and his crew won't be far behind her. The only thing you've got going for you is that they probably haven't figured out how to use Materia yet, and their corresponding skill to mine is locked down by the nearby Reactors. That doesn't stop their actual combat skills or weapons usage."

"Eden," Tseng began—only for Emma to whirl on him.

"You're in no rush, so let him think on this for awhile," she told the Wutain sharply.

He gazed at her oddly for a moment, then said, "It looks like you have another protective sister, Eden."

"Hey, I was there when Balto lit into you, Tseng, _remember_?" the blond woman asked in reply, glaring at the black haired man.

For a moment, the man was silent, but then his lips quirked faintly and he pulled out his PHS to dial a number. When it was answered, he said, "Could you come get Eden from our offices hall?" He then hung up a few moments later and faced her, saying, "I wasn't going to ask him to make any decisions, just to sit down with me in my office to fill in some blanks now that his past has come back to bite him."

"Too much too soon," Emma replied simply.

The Wutain's lips twitched again as he turned to face the room, but his expression turned thoughtful as he pondered something. "If you say the ones not in these rooms will be on the warpath, does that mean they're enemies, Eden?"

The blond sighed as he realized the question was one which couldn't really go unanswered for long, so held himself together for just a bit longer. "I guess that depends on how you handle them when they come. They're _going_ to attack, but you could probably—reason with them, I guess? In a way. My first thoughts would be...Teacher would probably take best to Sora, Mustang to Genesis, and Hawkeye to Freyra. For Sca—Amal and Fuery, I don't know..." the younger Turk answered, shoulders hunching as he talked.

"We'll work it out while you rest, then. Should we mention you to them?" he asked.

"Tseng!" Emma hissed quietly at him.

"No, that would set them off even worse—then, you're adding the same person they came to find to the list of so-called 'hostages'," Eden answered dully.

At that moment, as he began falling from exhaustion and information overload—his brain had finally declared itself unable to function further—Balto caught him and swung the younger boy up into his arms to carry him. Emma and Tseng both looked mildly surprised at his sudden presence as the woman stood straight from trying to catch the younger Turk before he hit the ground, but Balto glared at Tseng.

"It's always like this, isn't it?" he asked in a quiet, deadly tone.

Tseng shook his head and replied, "I needed a few details which couldn't be put off, and this is the result of his past coming back to bite him. Take care of him for awhile. I had intended on letting him rest for the next few days, but now I'm going to need him tomorrow to finish sorting this out. Call Rude to join you when he gets back, since you and he are the ones most likely to help him sort himself out."

Without a word, Balto turned and walked away with the younger Turk, and Emma turned back to Tseng. "Why is it starting to look like some higher force wants him to collapse under the pressure of his burdens, and why are you seemingly determined to make him carry them fully by himself?"

"I couldn't tell you the former, and the latter is largely due to you not understanding the scope of his burdens or how much I'm actually taking from him—how much he'll _let_ me take. What I need in order to help him carry them is the knowledge of what's going on so I know what I can do to help—and that's the same for all the Turks, Emma. Balto and Rude just have a much higher success rate where getting the whole truth from him is concerned," the other Turk replied, then turned back to the room he'd come from. "We'll need to move cots into the rooms for them, since it looks like they'll be here overnight. Make the arrangements while I get in touch with the people Eden listed to face the rest of the group should they happen to turn up."

"...Yes, Sir," the blond woman agreed, heading away to arrange for spare cots from the Infantry barracks storage.

SH

When Eden woke sometime during the night as his whole body ached sullenly, he could feel a familiar, grounding hand on his head, so opened his eyes slowly. Sure enough, Rude was sitting in a chair at the head of the bed, and he could see Balto leaning against the wall just past and beside Rude. The two older Turks watched him quietly as he assessed their presence, then assessed the fact that he was in his room in the Shinra building. He had a peculiar sense of surrealism and detachment from reality, as he was still trying to come to terms with more people from Amestris being on the Planet. Not only that, but his brother, and Winry, and so many others—!

"Feeling up to talking?" Rude asked as the sixteen-year-old closed his eyes.

With a small sigh and his eyes still closed, he said, "I guess I have to, but it's like being hit by a sledgehammer and trampled by a Behemoth at the same time..."

"And, of course, you know how it feels to be steam-rolled by a rampaging monster, so the impact of whatever brought this on is obviously huge," Balto commented. "As Tseng said, your past came back to bite you. I was under the impression your past was all dead and _couldn't_ come back to bite you."

"It should have effectively been, and it shouldn't have..." the blond answered.

"Effectively?" both other men asked, and the black haired one went on, "Meaning, they weren't dead and returned to the Lifestream, just estranged or cut off completely from you for a time?"

"Cut off...? I suppose that would be one way to phrase it. But it should have been permanent—at least, that was the impression I had gotten, but then my stupid brother thought he had to try to play God and come after me, and brought a bunch of other people along for the ride." He sighed and opened his eyes to stare at the ceiling, Rude's hand still on his head to keep him steady.

"Balto, you commented about no one knowing where I came from, and I said you wouldn't believe me if I told you, anyway. Before now, you probably would have had a hard time doing so, except there's now eleven other people who share the same history to back it up. The reason you'd have had trouble believing it...is because I wound up being—forcibly transported here from another world. It was the price I paid to save my brother's life on that other world. Basically, the price I paid to raise him from the dead was to 'die' in his place," Eden explained softly.

"You're not dead," Balto replied dryly.

"To that other world, I am."

The older men traded looks, then Rude said, "Explain," while Balto gazed at him in puzzled curiosity.

"...My world is much larger than this one in physical size—this planet is maybe about the size of one of the smaller island countries on my world. The country I lived in was called Amestris, which was an area of solid land easily four times the size of Gaia, and the only thing unifying Amestris was 'alchemy', the skill I use to manipulate my surroundings into other forms or modify Materia spells. Here, alchemy was a skill used by some branches of the Ancients, and it went out of use around the same time Materia began appearing, but it meant the Planet had an established connection to something called the Alchemist's Gate. In Amestris, we also definitely had that connection."

Eden paused for a minute, then closed his eyes as he debated what to say next. "I don't actually know if a connection to the Gate is a requirement for being sent from one planet to another, but I think it has a bearing. It also leaves open the possibility of people having crossed between Gaia and my homeworld in the distant past, now that I think about it. In my case, I had come into direct contact with the Gate a few times already...and the first two were the single most stupid things I could have done, and were in very quick succession of each other."

He paused again and opened his eyes as he said, "My brother was about a year younger than me, my parents were never married, and my father abandoned us around when I was turning four. When I was seven, my mother died. About a year later, Teacher took us in for a few years as apprentices in alchemy, where we stayed until I was about ten, approaching eleven."

The two men traded looks, then Rude moved his hand as the blond pushed himself to a sitting position and looked up at them. "When my brother and I returned home, it was so we could try to bring our dead mother back to life—not some _doll_ who looked like her, but actually _her_. It had never worked for anyone before, but I was so sure I would succeed where everyone before me had failed, so I basically pushed my brother to do it even though he had misgivings. The result was catastrophic.

"In the process of trying to perform the transmutation, I lost my left leg from the knee down and my brother's whole body was taken. To make matters worse, all we managed to do was bring to life some twisted _thing_ which only lived a few minutes before breaking apart and dying. When I realized what I had done, I used a nearby suit of armor and performed another transmutation to bind my brother's soul to the armor—which amounted to stuffing him in an isolation tank for five years. I lost my right arm in the process, but what Al lost...he couldn't eat or sleep, he couldn't feel touch, couldn't taste or smell...He could talk and walk around and see and hear what was going on around him, but he had no connection to any of it anymore."

He stopped for a minute as the two men stared at him in something like fascinated horror. Hunching and pulling his knees up to wrap his arms around them, he drew in several deep breaths before going on, "That almost broke me, and it was only being offered a challenge by a State Alchemist—Amestris' version of SOLDIER—to use the Military's resources to try to fix what I had done which helped me push past it. As I was, missing an arm and a leg, it would have been a lost cause, but we had the option of auto-mail and Winry—one of the six who were brought here—and her grandmother were both auto-mail mechanics. So, I opted to undergo the procedure to get outfitted, something most grown men can't handle because of the pain of having the limbs tied in to your nervous system.

"The rehab should have taken me three years, especially with two limbs to work with, but I did it in six months, then went to the capital to take the State Alchemy exams. I was twelve when I was accepted as a State Alchemist at Major rank, the lowest one a State Alchemist could have. From that point on, I traveled around researching some way to fix the mess I had gotten my brother and myself into, and got caught up in a war against some supernatural beings called homunculi in the process.

"In the battle against their leader, called 'Father', he was able to lock down our ability to use alchemy like Reactors do, so we all had to rely on physical fighting and weapons to wear him down until he couldn't keep us from using alchemy anymore. I was one of the strongest ones fighting him, until he destroyed my auto-mail arm and pinned my flesh one to a slab of concrete. My brother and a friend of ours—also here now—used her people's version of alchemy to override Father's lockdown and allow Al to reverse the process I'd used to put his soul in the suit of armor. He died completely and I got my flesh arm back...but I also went a little crazy and took it out on Father."

Stopping there for a moment, Eden drew in several deep, shaky breaths—and started as he felt Rude's hand rest on top of his head again. The firm weight helped ground and steady him, so with a final and less shaky breath, he went on, "The last thing I tangibly remember was using Father as the 'materials' in order to open the Alchemist's Gate to try one last time to get my brother back, then I have a blank until I woke up at Fort Condor, the first place I visited here. Earlier, when I was talking with Al, I got some answers about what happened.

"The Gate has a...gatekeeper, I guess, calling itself 'Truth'. Apparently, Truth determines what comprises an equivalent exchange, particularly where something as intangible as a soul is concerned—I mean, how feasible is it that my arm would be equivalent to my brother's soul, for example? But, to get my brother back, I had to lose my life in Amestris by going on a one-way trip to some other world where I'd have to start my life over without all the people I'd fought so hard to save. And now, those same people—some of them, at least—are here..."

The youngest Turk stopped speaking at that point, causing Balto and Rude to trade looks, but then Rude rose and moved over to sit beside Ed on the bed, where he drew the younger man into a hug. The motion somehow opened a floodgate and the blond began crying, and once he'd started, he found he couldn't stop, let alone easily. Balto also moved over to rest his hand on the blond's back, also offering much-needed comfort. As such, it took him over an hour to wind down—but oddly enough as he remained resting his head against his—father's—shoulder, he realized it felt like a weight had lifted off him and his mind had cleared quite a bit. The bald Turk made no motion to move him after he'd stopped crying and the black haired Turk's hand stayed on his back, so he just stayed there, also feeling more assured that he'd told his brother the truth—even if he _could_ have gone back to Amestris, he _wouldn't_ have. Not without a guaranteed way to return to the Planet, anyway.

After a few minutes of silence, Balto asked, "So somehow your brother and others you knew followed you here?"

"Somehow. I don't have the whole story or their whole idea, but it was apparently very deliberate and planned, and the fact that there are Amestrian sol—er, military personnel—here means they were part and parcel of said plan. It just didn't go the way they had expected it to, which means Truth chose very specific people to come through and wasn't limiting itself only to those actively performing the transmutation. Basically, they were dragged along on a one-way trip. Also, I doubt Truth would have let them through unless they were actually _needed_ here for some reason—that by myself, no matter how much progress I've made, it's not actually enough to save this world."

"Well, now a great deal about you makes more sense than it ever has, but it's still quite a learning curve to hear about magical gateways and people from other planets. It takes adjusting to," Balto commented with a light sigh. "How well are you going to be able to deal with them, and how well will they deal with you? Also...now that you have your own family back, does that mean _we'll_ lose you?"

Giving his head a shake against Rude's shoulder, the blond teen answered, "I had that discussion with my brother already. Even if I _could_ have gone back, I wouldn't—this is my home and family now, and as much as I care about Al and the others, Amestris hasn't been 'home,' not really, since my mother died. I guess you could say I'm now in the same position as Emma—the older sibling joining the Turks to protect the younger one. Leaving the Turks, leaving the closest thing I've ever had to a father, the closest things I've ever had to older siblings who actually cared enough about me to try to _protect me_ for a change...That's just not an option. As for dealing with them...now that I'm more steady and not so confused, I should be mostly okay."

The two older Turks traded looks again, then Rude asked, "And they with you?"

"I don't know. It depends on them. Every time I worry Winry, she hits me over the head with a wrench, and when I do something stupid, Teacher pretty much beats the crap out of me—to her, joining the Turks counts as 'something stupid'. The rest might yell, but really wouldn't do much else, and would probably get over it pretty quickly. I hope, anyway."

"If Winry is in the interrogation rooms, she has no wrench to hit you _with_ ," Balto said in wry amusement, dropping his hand from the younger Turk's back. "That might not stop her from slapping you or hitting you with a wrench later on, but if you talk with her there first, you'll be fine. Is 'Teacher' also here?"

"She's not in the interrogation rooms, but she's in Midgar and probably on the warpath," the blond answered, then yawned. "Then again, maybe she's now in the interrogation rooms. It depends on if the five who I guess weren't there when Genesis went to get them have already tried to recover the six who were brought here yet or not." He then yawned again.

"Get some more sleep," Rude said when he saw the second yawn.

"...'Kay..." Eden murmured, then leaned back from the darker man so he could lay back down and roll over onto his side. A few moments later, he was asleep.

SH

In the morning, the boy sat up in faint confusion, only to hear Balto say from the doorway to his room, "We're waiting for you so we can head down for breakfast. Get ready and join us in the living room."

He had left again before the blond had even turned towards the door, and he was hit again by how surreal the day had been yesterday. He got a little dizzy for a minute as he remembered everything, so it took him a few extra minutes to get up and gather his things to shower and change, and he was still feeling the dull ache in his joints from when he'd woken in the night. Once he was ready (though wondering why his uniform felt oddly tight and didn't seem to fit right), hair still down while it dried, he stepped out into the living room and saw Balto and Rude, and Freyra had joined them as well. They all looked up at him as he walked in.

"Aw, how cute!" Freyra exclaimed with a grin as she jumped up and hopped over to him to hug him, patting his long hair hanging down his back.

"Hey! I'm not cute!" Eden pouted, but let her hug and pat him anyway.

"You are with your hair down," she chuckled, then let him go. "Feeling all right?"

"Much better than last night," he answered.

"Good," she answered with a smile. "Let's go eat, then."

A look at Balto and Rude showed them both looking amused, but they rose and led the way out of the room as Freyra slung her arm around the blond's shoulders and guided him after them. It didn't take the four long to reach the cafeteria, where they grabbed their food and made their way over to the table where Sephiroth, Genesis, Angeal, and Zack sat. Soon after, they had settled in four other seats at the table for ten, Genesis just giving them an absent wave as he looked at something on his PHS while the other three SOLDIERs gave short, verbal greetings to them.

"What are you doing, Genesis?" Eden asked as he eyed the PHS in puzzlement.

"Your brother agreed with you about the reactions of the five we missed, but because he doesn't know anything about us, he can't say who might pair off with whom. I'm working with Tseng on how we're going to figure this out, though we're both mostly in agreement with you on the three you indicated after hearing Al's descriptions of them. He's actually being very open and helpful under the circumstances. Also, 'timing is everything', and if anyone we choose is on a mission when they decide to make themselves known, we'll have to have spares ready," Genesis replied absently as he began typing on the device rather than reading off it.

"What are you talking about?" Sephiroth asked in puzzlement.

At that moment, an exhausted-looking Felicia dropped down at one of the two remaining empty seats at the table, shoved her tray away from her seat, crossed her arms on the table in front of her, and dropped her head onto her crossed arms. "Goddess I'm tired..." she muttered. "When the Hell does Reeve even _sleep_?"

For a moment, everyone stared at her, even Genesis, then they all burst out laughing, other than Rude and Sephiroth, who just chuckled a bit.

"To answer that," Sephiroth said, lips twitching in amusement, "Unless he falls asleep over a schematic or some other bit of paperwork, he does not."

"No wonder he needed Gaia's Refuge's help so badly and jumped at the chance..." the brown haired woman sighed, head still on her arms. "I can't imagine doing that all the time, I just can't..."

Sephiroth then turned his attention back to Genesis and Eden as he asked, "What were you saying about people meeting the five you missed?"

The red haired SOLDIER turned back to his PHS as he said, "When I led the raid on the warehouse in the Slums, there were three kids there and three adults who all said they were trying to find Eden—by his name before he joined the Turks. One even claimed to be his brother. I wasn't sure what to do with them since there was no hostility in how they were behaving or what they were doing, so I escorted them back to Tseng. Apparently, there had also been five others who had been out at the time, so we missed them, but their likely reaction to finding we came and took 'their kids' away would—well, be equivalent to what _we'd_ do if someone kidnapped _our_ kids."

"So you're trying to capture them without hurting them?" Felicia asked in mild amazement, looking up.

Motioning at Eden while typing on his PHS, Genesis said, "They'll probably be a boon to Shinra, so yes."

All eyes went to the blond Turk, so he agreed, "Probably." Most of their eyes widened.

 **Notes:**

(1) Since 'Major Miles' was never given either a given or a family name, I'm assuming in a military setting that Miles is his family name and that he therefore needed a given name. This is the one I chose (it's Arabic, for the same reasoning as the name I chose to give Scar/Amal). It won't be used much, though...I think. But, based on my plan for him, he needed an assigned given name.


	4. 03-New Engineer

**A/N:** Just so everyone's aware, I never liked the Ed/Winry pairing (or Al/Winry, for that matter), so regardless of my mainly keeping romance out of this story, this WILL NOT be a pairing in it. Take Winry as a younger sister to Ed and older sister to Al (even though she technically fills the 'big sister' role for Ed, too, personality-wise).

Note that Scar will mostly be referred to as Amal for the rest of the story.

New Engineer

About half an hour after the discussion in the cafeteria, Eden knocked on the door to Tseng's office, earning him a call of, "Enter!" Opening the door, the blond Turk stepped inside and saw the man alone while he worked on paperwork at his desk. He closed the door behind himself and moved over to the seat across from the desk to sit and wait for the Wutain to finish up.

It only took a minute for the older Turk to set down his pen and look up at Eden to ask, "How are you feeling?"

"Better," the blond answered.

"Balto informed me of what you told them last night, with some input from Rude," Tseng informed the younger Turk, making him blink in surprise. "Since it's come back to bite you, he felt it would be easier if he informed me so you wouldn't have to tell the whole story a second time within a day." Slowly, Eden nodded, so the black haired man said, "It answered how they fit in with you, and my concerns were actually assuaged by how you answered your brother in the interrogation room yesterday. I am glad to know we hold such a high place in your life. Of course, all of that brings us to the question of what we're going to do with them, since they're obviously people you don't want to leave out in the cold now that they're here."

Eden blinked again, then asked, "You had concerns about something to do with me?"

"You joined the Turks partly because you had nothing and no one to worry about outside us," the Wutain answered quietly. "To have your 'dead' brother right in front of you, it was feasible to think you'd try to leave the Turks in favor of him, but if you had..."

"I'd have been dead," the blond replied. "I know. That had nothing to do with my choosing the Turks over them, and I never really took that as a factor at all in whether or not I joined you, or even in whether or not I stayed. If I really wanted to, I could get below your wire and stay there, Tseng, so you'd have a damned hard time trying to capture and kill me if I actually _wanted_ to leave. I don't. I'm a little surprised you all believe me so easily and so readily, though, because it's not like that—my situation—is an every-day occurrence."

Tseng looked amused by the comment as he replied, "There have been some little tells here and there, things you've said, the way you've said them, things you questioned, things you managed to 'discover', behaviors. We Turks have been noting them all and wondering where they were all coming from—Reno gave me a few of the best ones from when he worked with you. All things considered, as easy as it would be to assign the situation to 'estrangement', for us, that wouldn't answer our questions—but your explanation, even as far-fetched as it is, _does_. For the purposes of the executives, though, we're going to explain it with the estrangement option."

"Which is?" Eden asked with a raised brow.

"You became estranged from them in an incident stressful enough to warrant you leaving rather than trying to re-establish your relationships. They later realized they had been at fault and came to find you to repair the damage, hence their arrival here. We're saying they're from a tiny, so far nameless, village in the same island chain where Mideel and Banora are, but much further north along the chain. By that assumption, it's the same area you would have come from, and your combat skills become self-explanatory if most of them have such skills—which they do. Mei's arrival with them isn't as suspicious, either, because that region is one of the nearest to the western Wutain coast. That covers everything from before they arrived, like overheard discussions we had, and how they're being handled now, something we need because you passed out in front of several Infantrymen."

"I see..." the younger Turk blinked, then sighed. "It'll do. It's close enough to what happened, anyway. But my greater issue is what _can_ I do with them now that they're here? Just...I really don't think they'll be happy living off my income, but people like Teacher just _won't_ join a 'military' force, let alone one like Shinra, which does a lot of really nasty things."

"So you're saying they need to be active parts of society, but don't necessarily need far-reaching goals?" the black haired man asked.

"I guess so," Eden agreed with a small frown. "But they also don't know much, if anything, about the Planet, let alone Shinra or Midgar. I mean, have they said how long they've been here? Even if it's been a month, they obviously haven't found out much in that time."

Nodding, the Wutain said, "They haven't specified a time, but likely longer than a week, and some of the things your brother said indicate they haven't had the same degree of luck you did. Then again, the Midgar Slums aren't exactly...exemplary educational facilities. The girl called Mei Chang is eleven, so her only real option is to attend the Academy with the rest of our kids and choose a path later on. Because of that very fact, she can also act as the source of lessons for the others so it doesn't become nearly so obvious they don't know things they technically should. What kinds of skills do the others have?"

Pausing to assess the question, the blond said slowly, "Mei is an alchemist and martial artist, but she uses a style completely different from the rest of us in both, and in her homeland, she was a princess. Teacher calls herself a housewife, but she's a very powerful and skilled alchemist and martial artist—the last time I checked, she was stronger than me martially. Amal is—he's been everything from our equivalent to the Death God of the Battlefield to a warrior-priest to a terrorist to a freedom fighter. I'd say he's more like a freelance merc who knows alchemy in many styles. Al has combat and alchemy skills along the lines of mine, but slightly lower on the scale—at least, that's how I would estimate it now that he's back in a flesh and blood body, unless he's been doing a whole lot of real combat recently. If I hadn't been living the life I have for the last several months, I'd say he was the stronger martial artist. Winry is a non-combatant, but she's trained as an auto-mail mechanic and is one of the leading experts in her field despite her age, so she has some medical training and lots of engineering and mechanics training. That covers the 'civilians'."

Leaning back a bit in his seat, he said, "The rest were all in the Amestrian Military, ranked anywhere from Private First Class to...I think the last I heard of Mustang's rank, he was a Brigadier General. He'd be the highest-ranked of them, but there are three each from two different units, and of them, five are basically as highly-trained as Turks but operate under the rule and regulation of the Infantry. The three who are here are from Fort Briggs in the north, and had to live and fight in an environment as harsh or harsher than Icicle Inn and the Northern Crater, so that's why I rank them as Turk-level skills. Major Miles would be their leader of a sort, but I don't know that any of them have any particularly impressive skills.

"Fuery also doesn't have any particular skills in that sense, but he's still skilled enough to survive on the battlefield and command troops. His main function is in communications technology, though, and while our technology is behind yours in most aspects, I think he'd learn it fast, and I know he's happiest when he doesn't have to fight, just establish lines of communication. Hawkeye is a trained sniper and Mustang's right hand—woman. I wouldn't _want_ to go against her if she's got a gun in her hand." He then paused and sighed as he said, "And Mustang is a State Alchemist who has an affinity for manipulating fire, but he's also a highly skilled tactician and strategist. His skills are top-notch, but...If he's got the new input from the Gate, he's probably a lot more versatile than he had been, but probably gets the same debilitation I do."

Tseng linked his hands on his crossed knees while his elbows were resting on the arms of his chair, tipping his head to the side as he assessed what he had just been told. After a pause, he asked, "Did you just tell me we've been sent another five alchemists and several foreign mercenaries, along with a doctor?"

Blinking, then blinking again, the blond teen gave a wry grin and said, "I guess so. Though Winry is honestly more of an engineer than a doctor."

"...Engineer."

Blinking again, Eden said, "I'll take her to Reeve so she can help him, and so she can teach Shalua the kind of prosthetics she wants to learn."

The Wutain chuckled and said, "That's a good start. We now have two with a place. You mentioned your teacher not wanting to join Shinra. If that is indeed the case, do you suppose she'd join Gaia's Refuge once she hears what they're all about?"

"...Look, Teacher is really unpredictable, honestly, so there's no real way for me to know which way she'll go, because she's surprised me more times than I can count, and there's no reason for her to be 'predictable' now. Though...I'd think her most likely option would be to just set her up with a nice home and shop where she can keep pretending to be a housewife. Well, of a sort, if she has no husband."

After pondering the phrasing for a moment, the older Turk nodded. "We'll refrain from taking any action with her status for the moment, then. The military personnel would have the potential of SOLDIER, the Turks, or Gaia's Refuge. Maybe they'll want to have people in all three if it's possible. We'll be able to discuss the issue with them once you've had a chance to talk with them—unless you disagree?"

"...I just wonder if any of them would want to join the Infantry initially to get a good feel for Shinra's military setup. I can't think of anything else they'd like to do off the top of my head, but maybe they'll have suggestions or offers. Hawkeye won't go for SOLDIER of her own accord, though, so it would be the Turks, Gaia's Refuge, or the Infantry for her. I'd favor the Turks being her choice. Well, unless Mustang wants her to be in SOLDIER with him. That's sort of a double-edged blade for her because she'll go where Mustang goes and won't leave his side unless he orders it and gives her a good reason to go, so even if she'd _prefer_ the Turks, she wouldn't really voice that unless Mustang wanted her somewhere other than with him directly."

"Why do you say she wouldn't take SOLDIER of her own accord?"

"She believes in working towards her own skills, not artificially enhancing them—she's a lot like Balto that way."

"Very well. That leaves your brother. What do you think he would do? Follow you into the Turks? He seems the type."

"Follow me around like a puppy, more like. No, Al would probably be happiest as a student or with Gaia's Refuge, assuming he doesn't try to force-establish himself as my—er—sidekick again. And Tseng, I really don't want him to do that when all the things Gaia's Refuge is doing would really be where he would flourish. I don't think Shinra would appreciate him trying to attach himself to me that way, either."

"No, we wouldn't," Tseng agreed. "If he can't act independently of you or you of him, you both become liabilities. Also, if he can't make his decision right away, he could start by attending the Academy because you're a Shinra employee. For Mei, if she's willing, I'd have 'custody' of her to simplify her presence at the Academy."

"I think that would work. I think they'd both like that, too, because then they'd be able to stick together to have lessons. Winry might even want to attend some lessons, even if she's mainly working with Reeve. Is that allowed?"

"It is, with her employer's permission so he knows when her lessons are to excuse her during those times. I feel Reeve would give it."

"So do I."

"Good. Was there anything else, or is this sorted out enough to get started on talking with them to offer what we've discussed?"

After a moment of thought, Eden nodded and said, "I can start talking with them. For my purposes, I'd better get Winry over with, because she's going to slap me at the very least. I'd probably talk with Mei next, then the Briggs guys, then go back to my brother to let him know what we're offering him."

At the words, Tseng commented, "Which brings me to one last point both Rude and Balto commented on—your casual acceptance of violence directed at you. It honestly makes it sound like you've become accustomed to abuse."

"Uh..." Ed blinked, then blinked again—and burst out laughing. When he stopped, he gave the Wutain an amused grin and said, "With Teacher, she doesn't do it often, usually on the basis of what a parent would do when slapping a child's hand away from an electrical outlet—fear for my well-being—then hugs me and patches me up after. I've sure never thought of it as abuse, it's just that she has an explosive temper. With Winry—we grew up together, and she's really not that strong, hence her using a wrench. It's also her way of making me aware I did something stupid, so again, she doesn't do it often, and it's also like Teacher in that it's a caring thing, a reaction to worry. For both of them, it _might_ happen about once a year, maybe twice. Or equivalent to that. You don't have to worry."

After eying him for a moment, the older man rose and agreed, "Very well. Let's head over to the rooms they're being kept in." Eden rose and followed him.

They went down the hall to where the Infantry guards were, where Tseng stopped by the door next to Al's on the same side of the hall. When he nodded at the guard, the man pushed the door open so the two Turks could step inside. The first thing the blond saw was the same table and chairs in the middle of the room, then a plain cot with sheets and a blanket in the back corner, then a still-drowsy, blond sixteen-year-old girl as she sat up to look at them.

For a few moments, she sat on the cot and gazed drowsily and uncomprehendingly at them—then her eyes widened as she realized who she was seeing and came fully awake. Her hair was paler blond than his and Al's and it was tied in a high ponytail with bangs and two locks to the sides of her face, and her eyes were blue. At the moment, she was dressed in her mechanic's clothes, the white pants held up by a belt while the top of the one-piece was tied around her waist and she wore a black and white crop top with a large zipper down the front.

"Ed!" she gasped, jumping up and running to him to hug him tightly. He let her, knowing what was coming—and sure enough, a minute later, she pulled back from him and slapped him as hard as she could (in the absence of having a wrench). He got a faint red mark on his cheek and it stung a bit, but wasn't more severe. "Don't scare us like that again! And you've been way too long without maintenance, too!" Then, as Tseng watched in bemusement, she grabbed Eden's arm, dragged him over to the table, pulled a chair away from it, and stripped the blond Turk of his pants so she could shove him in the chair and kneel in front of him to examine his metal leg closely.

"You didn't tell me she'd practically force you to strip, Eden," Tseng commented dryly to the furiously blushing sixteen-year-old boy.

"I didn't think she would without her mechanic's tools on hand..." the boy replied with a deep sigh.

"When has _that_ ever stopped me?" Winry asked sharply as she pulled some of the casings off his leg to examine them. "And why did it take you so long to come see me?" She then frowned suspiciously as she eyed one of the casings she'd taken off and announced, "Someone's been fixing my auto-mail!"

"That would be Executive Reeve Tuesti, who is an engineer and mechanic, as well as the one who takes care of Urban Development—building cities and stuff," the boy told her. "After we went on a raid in enemy territory, I really needed some maintenance, and he'd figured out enough about how it functioned from looking at it once before to be able to give it some of that maintenance."

The girl looked up at him sharply, then went back to her examination of his leg as she asked, "And the other two questions?"

"You've _never been_ without tools of some kind before, so I thought I'd be spared the embarrassment this time. It took so long because I was halfway around the world until fairly late in the afternoon yesterday, then the first person I walked in on was Al so I pretty much had a breakdown and wasn't fit to see _anyone at all_ until now. Also, I had to work out what we'd be able to do with all of you so you'd have livelihoods here."

"What did you mean when you said 'enemy territory'?"

"We infiltrated the hidden base of the President's private army and annihilated them to rescue Genesis and his sister—and as many others as we could who were still sane."

Winry looked up at him in surprise at that, then fell silent for a minute as she kept working on his leg. Finally, she asked, "Is it really okay for you to share military operations with me? Especially if you were basically keeping your actions hidden?"

"We weren't," Tseng answered that time, making her look sharply at him with a deep frown. "We kept it from the President until we had to act, but once we acted, all secrecy was thrown out the window and the raid is actually common knowledge, as well as its goals and results. The President learned not to play with the lives of people who happen to be part of his company or family of theirs, like he tried to do with Genesis and his sister."

She looked surprised by the data as she looked back at Ed for verification, and when he nodded, she went back to work. "So...you're working against the President?"

"We're working against some of his policies and actions. He's not on the same level as the Führer, though, so we're not really working directly against him—and also, this is actually a _company_ , with a company's rules and regulations, not a _country's_. Even though the company is basically taking the place of a country," Eden explained.

"...And you expect me to believe you willingly joined something this screwed up?"

"I did. There are a lot of good people in this monster of a company, and I'm taking them all along for the ride on my save-the-world crusade."

Tseng snorted at the words and said, "Of course, that's largely because we're willing to go along for said ride."

"Yes, sir, Boss. You're just blindly following along behind your subordinate!" Eden replied snarkily.

"Do _you_ want to get a spanking, Eden? You've even got your pants down already to make it easier," Tseng asked in a tone like he was talking about the weather.

"Hell no!" the younger Turk replied immediately, cheeks red while the rest of his face was paler than normal. He knew the reference to his own threat to spank Rufus if he tried pulling shit on him. "If it's you, that'll be more like getting electrocuted!"

"Um...I feel like I just missed something completely..." Winry said as she glanced between the two in confusion.

"It's nothing you need to worry about," Tseng told her. "But I don't think you were actually told that I'm the current Director of the Turks, which makes me Eden's 'boss'. Since Alphonse asked about it as well, Eden is his name as a Turk. We're not technically allowed to have family, or at least known family, but some of us have siblings, spouses, children, and so on, regardless of that rule. In exchange, we live by the rule that Turks are family, and betrayal equates death."

"That's really harsh, Ed..." the girl said quietly to him.

"It's moot, though," he answered her as she began replacing the casings on his leg.

"What do you mean?"

"Not only do I have no reason to betray the Turks, but they've been a better family to me than I've ever had. One of them basically is the closest thing I've had to a father since just before I turned four, and because I'm the—second youngest Turk, I'm the one being protected for a change. I have one especially protective older brother who even goes up against Tseng repeatedly in my favor if he thinks Tseng's mistreating me."

"Other Turks do it, as well. Emma was the most recent to get in my face, and that was only yesterday. I think you missed it entirely because of your breakdown," Tseng answered in mild amusement. "Only the ones you haven't had much contact with—and the ones who _also_ didn't see Balto lit into me when you got back from Corel—haven't done so at least once. Now, we should likely move on to the reason we came here."

"What reason is that?" Winry asked as she shifted backwards and held both of the boy's legs up in front of her, heels lined up at the back of the ankle as she measured the length of the flesh leg to the length of the prosthetic one.

"I mentioned needing to figure out your livelihoods, right?" Ed asked, and she frowned and opened her mouth to say something. He quickly went on before she could say she already had one, "Auto-mail doesn't exist here right now, though they have a half-developed hack they call 'cybernetics,' so Reeve has been working on trying to develop actual auto-mail because of my leg. My first thought was that you'd like to work with him, and both of you could learn a lot from one another. Also, he's so overworked he'll readily take any help he can get. Maybe between you and Gaia's Refuge, he'll start making it to his bed some nights. There's also a fourteen-year-old girl named Shalua—she's the older of Genesis' sisters—who has decided she wants to be a doctor specializing in prosthetics, and she'd probably be over the moon if you took her on sort of as an apprentice. If there are any classes you'd like to take at Shinra Academy, Reeve would let you take them around whatever projects you're working on for him."

"Why are you sending me to work with engineers instead of doctors?" Winry asked with a small frown, then announced, "You're already a few centimeters off—you'll start having balance issues." She then released his feet and looked up at him expectantly.

"Partly because auto-mail is way closer to this world's engineering than its doctoring, and partly—mostly—because the head of the Science Department is a sadist in the extreme who would completely distort your practice into something horrific if I sent you there, where all the doctors work," Eden replied. "Until Hojo kicks the bucket, you're _way_ better off working with Reeve, because Reeve is a gentle man who has morals. Hojo has none."

Standing up, the girl crossed her arms and asked, "Why does it sound like you don't expect Hojo to live much longer?"

"Because I don't," Eden answered evenly. "Can I put my pants back on now?"

She picked the black material up and threw it at him, then sat down in the chair across the table from where the two Turks were, even as the blond Turk pulled his pants back on and refastened them. For a few minutes, she sat and gazed thoughtfully at the pair, then slowly nodded and said, "I could do that."

Letting out a relieved puff of air, Eden said, "Good, then let's go introduce you to him so you can get on the payroll. Later, when I've had a chance to talk with everyone else, we'll be able to work out a time for all of you to meet again."

The three left the room and Tseng stopped to talk with the guard who had been outside the door, letting Eden take her up to Reeve's office himself. It was a fairly short—and quiet—trip, for which he was thankful.


	5. Interlude--Eden is an Alien?

**A/N:** Okay, so since a couple comments were made about wanting some thoughts from people like Tseng and Genesis about how they resolve what they now know about Ed, I decided to create this to help fill that in. No, this isn't taking the place of chapter 4—that will still be posted on schedule.

Technically, this is happening between Ed's admission to Rude and Balto and his waking in the morning to eat, so he hasn't filled in anything for Tseng yet. Hope it appropriately fills in what their thoughts on the matter are!

Interlude—Eden is an Alien?

Tseng had a headache. Well, at this point, it was more like a migraine.

It was the middle of the night, he'd just gotten off the phone with Balto, he was tired, he was hungry, and there was no end in sight to his work list. Especially not now, when he and his Turks had to work fast to create false identities to hide Eden's—family. Not from society, but from Shinra.

He gave a sudden snort as he looked down at the paper he was working on, the one for Alphonse Elric. He'd already done Mei's since she was the easiest to create a cover for—Wutai kept far fewer and much harder to track records, after all—and the one called Miles, also because records in the Costa del Sol and Corel areas were about as sparse as the ones in Wutai. He didn't know enough about the five who were still at large to do ones for them just yet, and the other four currently present were all too— _Shinra_ in looks for things to be so easy. But then, he rather had to account for the fact that such a varied group all knew one another well and had come from the same area...

In the case of Eden's brother, however, he actually wondered if the young man was _sane_ after he had openly blurted out in front of his 'captors' that he was from another world. Then again, he'd spent five years effectively in an isolation tank, and that part had been no secret from the start, so it was unlikely _all_ of his mental faculties _were_ working correctly. On the other hand, what lent so much credence to his story was the very fact that he had so openly and candidly said he was from another world, and that was besides Eden's reaction to him—to someone he was sure the blond Turk had really believed he would never see again, therefore making him 'dead' to Eden.

If he was completely honest with himself, had he not cared so much about Eden, and about the younger Turks' friends and family by extension, hearing Alphonse say he was from another world would have produced one of two unpleasant reactions for the boy—he was more of a child still, rather than the adult he should have been—and likely his companions. The first would have been for him to turn them over to the psych ward to figure out what was wrong with their sanity, assuming he took them as having a mass hallucination. If, however, he had taken the words as truth, he'd have handed them to Hojo to find out who and what in the world they _were_. That wouldn't have gone over well with them or with Eden, so he was glad he, and they, all cared so much about the younger Turk, leading to them negating both possibilities.

He was still left with the problem of how to explain their presence and create identities for them which also explained their ties to one another, as calling it 'estrangement' on Eden's behalf only explained how they'd met their Turk before the others.

There was a knock on the door before it was pushed open to reveal Quis, Reno, and Genesis standing there. Genesis and Reno looked about as tired as he did, making him feel a little cross that Quis was so chipper and cheerful. In the middle of the night. Wait, why was Quis there at that time? He'd been scheduled to arrive the next morning...

"Here's my report on the situation in Bone Village," Quis said, handing the folder he'd been carrying in one hand to Tseng. "You look tired. Why are you awake at this time of night?"

Tseng blinked as he stared down at the folder for a moment, then asked the blond wryly, "Why are _you_ here now, rather than in the morning?"

"'Cause I didn't wait for the ship you were expecting me on, I paid my own way on a route down to Rocket Town, then over to here on one of their usual delivery airships," Quis answered in amusement. "I would have just left that with Reno, but apparently you also wanted to talk with me when I got back, and he said you were still here...This place is starting to remind me of a beehive, though, with nearly everyone still awake and working."

With a chuckle, the Wutain asked Reno and Genesis, "You literally never told him anything about what's going on here?"

"That would spoil the surprise, yo!" Reno grinned cheekily.

"I just got here to check in with you about pending plans to deal with the other five," Genesis commented dryly, holding up his own folder.

"I see," Tseng answered after a pause, not quite sighing as he said it.

"What five? What plans?" Quis asked in confusion. "And how does that relate to me?"

"Well, sit down, then," the older Turk replied, motioning at the chairs. Quis and Genesis sat, but Reno stayed standing, leaning against the door. "Eden's past came back to bite him, and six of the people he used to know are in our interrogation rooms, while five more are at large. They aren't enemies by that definition, and we're deliberately bating the other five to come here so we can capture them, then offer them work—if they're all as skilled as Eden said, they'll be a boon to us." Genesis nodded at the words.

"Eeeh...And how do I fit in?" Quis asked curiously.

"Eden and his brother both said one of them is military-trained, but he prefers communication. You're a friendly person, so I'm hoping you'll be able to get him to listen to you and come peacefully, even if you have a scuffle, first. They're operating under the assumption that we've kidnapped and harmed their three 'kids' and the three who were watching over the kids, even though no harm has taken place. I suppose in a way, what Genesis did by bringing them here could be taken as kidnapping, but that was never the intent, so we probably will need to subdue them, first. I need more details from Eden, but the one I'm thinking of for you to take on is named Kain Fuery," the Wutain Turk explained.

"So...this Kain Fuery guy is going to be angry when he comes?" the younger Turk asked.

"We expect a certain amount of hostility from them, but the exact dynamic depends on the person," Genesis replied. "I'm guessing by the way both Eden and Alphonse described him, Fuery would be one of the milder ones, but that may also make him more dangerous because he won't be running on anger, which clouds the mind."

"...Eden's brother is here, then, and is willingly giving you information on how to capture five others he cares about?" Quis asked, his gaze wryly amused and a quirky grin on his face. The other three traded looks, then nodded at the blond. "Do you guys realize how— _wrong_ that sounds? Unless the kid's an idiot and doesn't realize he's working against his own allies, he shouldn't be giving us that sort of information so easily. I could understand it from Eden because he's one of us, but _this_ kid?"

Tseng's lips quirked and he commented, "I've been asking myself exactly how sane he is since meeting him as well, because he seems to be blurting out a great many things he should, by all rights, be keeping close to his chest for his own safety. For example, it's not every day you hear someone blurt out, and I quote, 'You agreed to be sent away to some other world which was in danger.' He was talking to Eden at the time."

"Yeah, I remember that. It explains a lot about all of Ed's quirks, but still—that's mind-boggling!" Genesis threw in, his gaze partially amazed and partially disturbed. Tseng nodded his agreement.

"Uh..." Quis began, looking a little ill. "If they actually believe that, shouldn't they be in a mental institute?"

"If twelve very different people who all happen to know one another and have all the same unrecognizable quirks all tell you the same thing, is it a mental illness or is it truth?" Tseng asked the younger Turk curiously. "I've been wondering about it, but just like with Eden, there's _no_ record of them anywhere on this world, not that we can find. If they had come from Deepground, that may have been possible—Weiss, Nero, and Rosso had no records anywhere but in Deepground's files, after all—but we know they _didn't_ come from there. We can trace most of the Deepground members because they had been taken off battlefields or kidnapped from homes, just like we can trace the origins of Fuhito's Ravens, but these people all just don't exist. Then there's the quirks, so my vote's for them telling the truth. It's Alphonse's lack of discretion which is singularly worrying."

For a long moment of silence, Quis thought about what he was being told, then slowly nodded. His gaze moved to Reno to ask, "You believe this, too?"

"'Course I do, yo," Reno agreed. " _I'm_ the one who _saw_ most o' his weirdest quirks. Hearin' he's from another world explains it like nothin' else, yo."

"...For the Director and his Second to both believe it, maybe there's something to it, but—really?" the blond Turk asked, shaking his head with dawning amazement at just how good Eden had been at hiding his origins.

"Believe me, I'm still trying to adapt, too," Genesis commented. "More than anything, it explains his knowledge of the arrays and the spells, his 'alchemy'. I mean, it would be feasible for someone from another world to have learned those things, while _I_ had to work them out on the fly and would have been half-baked at best if I couldn't _see_ the arrays for some unknown reason. And the arrays Al was leaving around the city to try to guide Eden to him were easily as complex as the ones Eden and I have been working on—well, with one known exception. Did you get to find out any real details about his past before he crashed?"

"No, but Balto called me not long ago to tell me what he told him and Rude. It fits with what he's said to us—pretty much everything we knew about him as a person and about his past was truth with slight modification to account for the fact that he was trying to keep his being from another world from us. I don't blame him for doing it, since most of us would probably have either put him in a mental institute or handed him to Hojo if we hadn't gotten so close to him before finding out," Tseng replied. "Now, about Fuery..."

"I'm fine with that part," Quis shrugged.

"It'll cut into your time off," the older Turk warned him.

With a grin, the blond answered, "When did I ask for time off? I'd have been fine staying out in Bone Village for awhile longer while working, since other than people-watching, _I wasn't doing anything_. This will be a break from boredom. And I'll get to meet some new people, too." His bright grin was infectious.

With a faint chuckle, Tseng gave a nod and agreed, "Fine, if you're fine with it, stay in the building for the next few days so we can call you on a moment's notice if need be. You're welcome to head out now." When Quis nodded cheerfully and hopped up to leave, he looked up at Genesis and asked, "That takes care of one more part of our basic plan, doesn't it?"

"One more, yes," Genesis agreed as the door closed behind Quis and Reno moved over to the chair the blond had vacated. "I think I'll send Kunzel against Amal, with Angeal to watch over him just in case things go bad. You finalized Freyra, Sora, and myself as the others, right?"

"That was the plan," the Wutain agreed. "Why Kunzel?"

"He's adaptable and easy-going, and he doesn't have the sheer intimidation factor most SOLDIERs get because of the Mako enhancements. On the other hand, if Amal's got the kind of skill Eden and Al implied, we may well need someone as skilled and powerful as a Second to take him out, like sending Sora against Izumi. That's the same reason you wanted me to go against Mustang, especially if he _has_ learned to use Materia—if he even has a fraction of Ed's skill, no one else would stand a chance, except maybe Felicia, and I'm under the impression she's busy right now," Genesis replied in amusement. "And with Lazard and the President banning us from asking Sephiroth..."

"I'd still say you were the best bet, before Felicia or Sephiroth," Tseng replied dryly. "I'm still having trouble believing we even have to do all this at all. And I still haven't figured out how to explain their collective quirks beyond the part about Ed's 'estrangement' from them."

"...Maybe we're trying to make it too complex," Genesis suddenly blinked. At the Wutain Turks' frown, the red haired man explained, "They obviously all came from the same place, and the only real way they could have no records is if it was a small, out-of-the-way place where records were sparse to start with, and which had recently been destroyed. And what would you know, but about a week before we met Edward Elric, a small town in the jungle near the Banora Materia Mine which we had previously never really paid attention to suddenly went up in flames.

"Here's the deal. Mrs. Hewley told Angeal, and Angeal told me—they found the remains of the village, but it sort of looked totaled. I wouldn't have called it a fire, more like what you'd get if someone dropped a bunch of Comet 2's on it, based on the descriptions. The weirdest part is why the village suddenly went up in flames when it was completely off everyone's radar, and even Banora barely knew it existed when we were their nearest neighbors. These, then would be the survivors, only because they left to go after Ed shortly before it happened, and by default, may not know it did. But if Ed's level of skill was 'common' there, they could easily have accidentally destroyed themselves. It would explain Mei, too, by proximity to Wutai, and Banora and the villages near it are all oddly mixed blood, so people like Miles wouldn't be out of place."

"I see," Tseng mused thoughtfully. "That could well work, and would explain the lack of records, also by the fact that any records which would have been in the town probably don't exist anymore."

"And you two are still avoidin' the real issue, yo," Reno suddenly put in dryly, making the other two turn to stare at him in surprised confusion. "Work, work, work. Ya do that every time ya don't know what ta think 'bout somethin'. The real 'issue' right now is what ya actually think—about them bein' from another world, about Eden not havin' told us the truth, yo. You gonna just not face it an' lash out at him or the same folks you're tryin' ta save, or ya gonna face it and make sure you know where ya stand?"

They both stared at him for a few moments before Tseng asked quietly, "Since you're the one giving the advice, what have you decided to think about the situation, Reno?"

With a shrug, the red haired eighteen-year-old said, "Eden's always gonna be Eden, yo. What we'd've done if we hadn't known him so well ain't what we're doin' now, so havin' thought of doin' it doesn't matter that much. We're protectin' him, and them, because we know they ain't enemies, and where they came from—it don't matter. That ain't no different from just not carin' you an' Sora were from Wutai before joinin' Shinra, they just came from further away, yo. And like ya said—Eden ain't actually told us lies, just didn't say a couple things which woulda put him in danger. That ain't a crime, that's the smart, _sane_ thing ta do. It's that simple, yo."

Genesis blinked, then chuckled and admitted, "That truly simplifies matters if we look at it like that. It's true I never got the impression from him that he was lying about things, or even that he meant harm, even when what he was doing was technically selfish. In the grand scheme of things, he's proven to be one of the people we can trust the most, and he's one of the few who people like Rufus will actively listen to, so even if things 'could' have gone differently, they didn't. I like this deal better than the alternative, because I'd probably be dead now if it wasn't for him."

Tseng eyed both of them thoughtfully for a minute, then nodded and admitted, "As much as it stings for him to have omitted details, it's possible...we wouldn't have been ready to hear them before now. Like he wasn't ready to hear the 'Turks are family' speech until about a month ago, I doubt we'd have been ready to hear this earlier. Like Veld and I withheld that from him at first, he did to us, so I can't fault him for it, even if that would have resulted in him never telling us. He is who he is, regardless of what we do or don't know about his past, and in a way, I'm relieved to know it now, because it explains a lot about why he's actually trustworthy."

Reno raised a brow at him before commenting, "Now ya gotta believe that, Tseng, or it won't mean nothin'. It's good you can put it inta words, but—ya sound like a fricken robot, like an answerin' service voice, yo. At least _Genesis_ sounded like the light bulb had lit up in his head."

"I think I'll leave the two of you to sort this out more and get back to what I need to do..." Genesis tactfully put in as he rose and headed for the door.

"You're ditching me?" Tseng glared at his back.

Pausing with his hand on the knob, Genesis asked over his shoulder, "Do you think there's actually anything I can do which would make it all right for you? Or do you have to work that out for yourself?" After a few moments without a reply, he opened the door and left, shutting it behind him.

"You should sleep, yo," Reno said. "Let me work out more o' the details while ya rest. You'll only get a couple hours as it is."

For a moment, Tseng resisted the urge to either bolt out of the office or forcibly throw Reno out, then sighed and admitted he needed sleep badly if those two options were the only ones he managed to arrive at. "Fine, I'll get some sleep, but I need to be back here by seven, so call me if I haven't gotten in by ten to."

"Gotcha," Reno agreed, pulling the paperwork over to him as Tseng rose and wandered slowly from the office.

As he prepared for bed, he kept thinking about Reno's accusation, then went to sleep—and slept like a log for reasons unknown to him. He normally slept lightly and woke at small sounds, but in the morning, it was Reno's call which woke him—at five to seven. Assuming Reno had called him at about ten to, that meant it had taken five minutes to wake up.

However, as he got ready to go back into the office, he realized his only issue was in feeling put out—he didn't feel betrayed, he didn't suddenly think Eden was going to become a danger to them, and he actually _wasn't_ bothered by the younger Turk's origins. It would have been nice to know beforehand, but there was no feeling or reaction beyond that, because when it came right down to it—Eden had been as honest as he could be while still keeping himself safe. Something also told him Rude had known things which he had kept to himself, as well as things he had told Eden to hide, for the very reason that it would keep Eden safe, and to date, it had. Feeling a little put out over not having known before was a small price to pay in exchange for the help, even just with research Eden had given them.

Reno was very right in one thing—Edward, Eden, wasn't so different from himself and Sora, he just came from further away.

It _was_ that simple.

He'd never been more grateful for Reno's completely off-the-wall way of thinking before that moment, because of all of them, it had been Reno who had seen the issue for what it really was from the start, and it was probably also Reno who was moderating for the rest of the Turks to make it easier for them to accept the new data.


	6. 04-Miles and Mei Chang

Miles and Mei Chang

As the blond Turk led the way past the front desk and through the halls on floor sixty-five (they were ignored by the office staff, somewhat to Eden's surprise and definitely to the blond girl's) to the office where he usually saw Reeve, he and Winry heard a faint explosion. Though, it had sounded like it came from the direction they were going in...

"What was that?" Winry asked.

"No idea," Ed answered, not wanting to guess what an engineer could have just blown up.

At the door to the office, he pushed it open—only to see Felicia rubbing the back of her head as she sat on the floor in the middle of the room, a blackened spot on Reeve's desk where a Cait Sith was prodding the edge of the ash, and a rather blackened and soot-streaked Reeve backed against the wall behind the desk. There were also random bits of metal and gears and other items like screws, nuts, and bolts scattered around the room, most of them looking blackened, too.

The man looked surprised as he stared at the spot, then looked past it to Felicia. "Are you all right, Felicia?" he asked worriedly.

"Fine, fine..." she muttered, giving him a dismissive wave while still rubbing her head.

"What happened?" Eden asked in bemusement as he moved forward to offer a hand to Felicia, Winry following him. The woman took his hand and let him pull her up.

"I was testing a prototype, but I was half-asleep when I finished putting it together and reversed the polarization by accident," Reeve admitted.

Eden snorted in amusement and said, "Well, then, meet Winry Rockbell. She's the designer and creator of my prosthetic limb. I'm sure you'll be able to use her help so you'll be able to get some sleep at night."

Felicia began chuckling as Reeve looked amused and asked, "Thank you?"

"Reeve, did that actually make sense?" Felicia asked the man dryly as everyone pondered his questioning 'thank you', including Reeve himself.

"...I don't think so. I'm a little off right now, though," the black haired man answered, running his hands over his face—and streaking the ash into a pattern more like tribal warpaint in the process, which made Winry start giggling.

"Then you should probably sit down for a few minutes," Felicia told him, facing Eden. "This has something to do with the discussion at breakfast, doesn't it?"

"Yes. Winry is one of the ones Genesis retrieved from the Slums yesterday," the Turk answered. "The main creation and functionality of auto-mail is based on engineering and mechanics, hence why they're called auto-mail mechanics or engineers. Knowing what her skills are and what Reeve's skills are, I thought she'd be a good match for him and vice versa."

"So does that mean she'd be interested in Cait Sith's functionality?" Reeve asked as he carefully stepped away from the wall. The black and white cat on his desk stopped prodding the blackened hole and stood straight on his hind legs to look at the blond girl.

"Why would I care about a 'cat' anything?" Winry asked in confusion.

"Because Cait Sith is the mechanical cat on the desk," Eden answered smugly. "Reeve made them so well they're basically an artificial intelligence with enough sense of touch to be able to feel someone pet them and to become hedonistic like any normal cat—but they can also walk around and talk independently like you or me, think for themselves and act on their own initiative. Also, they serve as Reeve's eyes and ears, so what they see and hear, he does, too, and he can even talk to people through them."

"Oh..." the girl began, then her head tipped to the side slowly. After another moment, her eyes first widened, then got an evil glint in them as she jumped at the cat and burst out, "I've just got to see how this thing is made!"

"Yip! Away, Lass!" the cat yelled, bolting off the desk to evade her hands.

She proceeded to chase the robotic cat around the room while it tried to ward her off with words like 'leave off' or 'let me be' and Winry answered with, 'come here' and 'stay still'. By the time she had pinned the cat down, the other three were laughing so hard they could barely stay on their feet.

"I can't believe she caught Cait Sith!" Reeve gasped out as he laughed.

"She's a mechanics fanatic, what can I say?" Eden replied, mostly calm again. "Anyway, since you were working on my leg anyway, she's the original maker of it, so she can teach you all about how auto-mail works, and probably will want to know how you made the Cait Siths able to feel touch."

"That's just the tip of the iceberg!" the girl called over her shoulder. "Now go away so I can work, Ed!"

"Yes, Ma'am," he answered in amusement, then faced Reeve and Felicia again. "You may want to get her some engineering tools so she doesn't just rip him apart. Setting her up as an employee working under you is up to you, but give her the list of Academy classes in case there's any she wants to take. And Felicia—have Gaia's Refuge keep an eye out for her if she's in town, because if she's tracking down a part..."

"She'll walk right into Don Corneo's mansion to get it without even realizing what kind of pit she just tumbled into," Felicia finished the thought with a nod. "Thank you for the laugh, though, because I really needed that."

He gave her a nod and was about to say more when Reeve said suddenly, "Thank you, Eden. I understand what you were saying before when you first came in, and I can honestly say I'll be grateful for the help if she's truly as skilled as you say. I'll make sure she's properly registered and gets her first paycheck now rather than in two weeks."

"Thanks, guys," Eden grinned at them, then gave a wave and left the room.

Returning to the Turks' offices floor, he saw Tseng rubbing his head like it hurt as he leaned against the wall near the elevator. As he approached, the man looked up and said, "I think you should talk with Miles now rather than later. He actually tried to escape while in the bathroom, and we had to forcibly recapture him."

"All that in the time I was gone?" the younger Turk asked in surprise.

"It actually began before we got here to talk with the young lady, and was in progress during that whole time. They only just called to ask for my help a minute or two after you left with her," the Wutain answered, then gave his head a small shake. "I see what you mean about them being equivalent to Turk-trained Infantrymen, though. At the time you said it, I was rather skeptical about such a description."

Eden gave him a wryly amused grin and said, "That's because Infantrymen here are total crap, even compared to the new recruits the Amestrian Military got. Then again, this is a company, not a country, and this 'company' relies on its elite in SOLDIER and the Turks for everything—the Infantry are literally just canon fodder and to improve Shinra's technical numbers, so Shinra doesn't _want_ them to be skilled."

"There is truth to that sentiment," Tseng agreed with a small sigh, then pushed away from the wall he'd been leaning on and led the way to the last of the three guarded doors on the side opposite Al's and Winry's. Again, he nodded to the guard—well, there were two guards outside the door rather than one—and led the way inside.

"So the 'Turk' is back," a faintly amused voice said as Eden followed Tseng, out of view of the man.

"Yes. This time with someone you may take better to," Tseng replied evenly, then stepped aside to reveal the blond as the door closed.

A screech of metal on metal sounded as the man in the chair across the table jolted, and Eden eyed the man evenly. Major Miles hadn't changed much, still with white hair long enough to be put in a wildly flyaway, high ponytail, still with dark skin a little darker than Rude's in color, and still wearing sunglasses to hide his eyes. The man's features were strong and squared, but he was a trim and muscular man nearly as tall as Angeal. The dark blue Amestrian uniform was the bulk of what he wore, but the military icons had been removed and the jacket was hanging open to show the white, button-up shirt under it. He currently sat with his arms crossed, but had leaned forward in his seat when he saw the blond. After a pause, he reached up and pulled his shades off, showing his red irises, then used the glasses to point to one of the chairs opposite him.

"Good to see you again, Major," Eden said as he sat down in the indicated chair.

The man's head tipped to the side as he asked, "A Turk?"

"Yes, a Turk," Eden replied with a glare. "I don't need to justify my choice to you, just that I don't regret it." He paused as Tseng took the other free seat, then said, "I hear you made a break for it earlier."

"I did," Miles agreed oddly amiably. "Do they still call you Fullmetal?"

"Nope, it's Eden now," the blond replied in amusement. "So, why did you feel you had to try to escape?"

"Hopefully, to meet up with the rest of the group and let them know what happened," the quarter Ishbalan informed him. "How much do you know about the situation?"

"I've talked with Al and Winry so far," the younger Turk answered. "Al told me who all came, and by who's here, that left five outside by default. The thing is, these people aren't your, or our, enemies. We're actually trying to do as little harm as possible on both sides because of how Genesis—the red haired man in charge of your capture—took you. He doesn't actually think any of you intend harm, but you're all displaced and don't know who to trust, let alone what options you have available to you. Are you interested in hearing what Shinra is willing to offer you?"

"Shinra, who are killing the world, you mean?" the white haired man asked coldly.

"We're working on that, but the problem is a lot more complex than the fight against Father, and there's a reason for that," Eden answered. He then proceeded to explain the complications the world was facing to its survival, finishing up by asking, "Are you willing to help us fix things the _right_ way, by trying to save lives and killing only the people there's no other way to get around?"

Miles sat with his arms tightly crossed for over a minute as he thought, then asked, "How many people are aware of what you just told me?"

"The people following me on my crusade to save the world, but not really anyone else yet," the blond answered, and saw the man give a faint smile.

"Are you returning home with us after?" he asked.

Raising a brow, Eden shook his head and asked in reply, "Didn't you know coming here was a one-way trip, not an extended paid vacation?"

Miles blinked, then blinked again, and his eyes widened. "Was that a miscalculation in the circle the alchemists used?"

"No, that's Truth's rules," the blond Turk replied. "I should have been the only one, but because Al forced open the Gate to come after me, Truth took matters into its own hands and decided who was going to be coming here based on whether their skills were useful _to this world_ or not. Of course, there may be more to it than that, but that's the most prominent reason I can think of now." He paused, then sighed and said, "Even though Truth uses a different basis, it still operates on Equivalent Exchange, and my 'exchange' was to 'die' in place of my brother in Amestris.

"When Al decided to come after me, he was given the terms 'give up on me' or 'give up on Amestris.' When he chose to continue forward, he gave Truth the opening to drag along anyone in its reach—to force them to find me by giving up on Amestris, something I think it could do because all of you there were hoping to get me back, even if you weren't planning to go looking for me." Miles inclined his head in recognition of the point. "You don't really have much choice but to learn to live and work here now, which means things like finding a job and a purpose."

A long silence fell until Miles closed his eyes with a sigh and asked, "So what are the options you mentioned I have? And what of the others?"

"Everyone has options if they want to take them. Mei is going to go to school and Winry will be working with one of the Executives who deals in mechanics and engineering, for example. You have at least four options, and it really depends on where you figure you'll stand and where you figure you'll be able to manage best. The obvious choices are the Turks, SOLDIER like Genesis, the Infantry, or an autonomous group called Gaia's Refuge. They used to be a terrorist group who became aware of what their previous actions were leading to and chose to take another path which would actually help _fix_ things—they're mainly the ones working to get people on Shinra's hit list out of the way and on alternative power sources. Turks are basically the Secret Service, SOLDIER are the State Alchemists, and the Infantry are the regular troops—only weaker here because they're just canon fodder."

While he'd been speaking, the older man had opened his eyes, and finally, the white haired man tipped his head to the side and said, "The Commander had glowing eyes."

"Yes. All SOLDIERs have blue, glowing eyes with a rim in green or teal around the pupil. It's a side-effect of the Mako enhancements they get just to enter SOLDIER's lowest rank, Third Class. They also get some genetic enhancements. Those things make them really hard to damage, cause them to heal rapidly when they _are_ damaged, and keep them from running out of energy quickly. One of the Turks' functions is to find SOLDIER Candidates, though the Turks are damned strong without even being enhanced. You qualify for both. You may also have an idea for another option—like opening a shop."

Once more, a long silence fell, then the red eyed man sighed, "I'm a soldier, always have been. As such, is there a particular one of the four you would recommend?"

Shaking his head, the teen informed him, "Any or all of them could be equally beneficial to our cause, because either way, it means more allies. I don't know how you would assess usefulness in the regular Infantry, though, and your likelihood of dying as the canon fodder I mentioned earlier is higher there than in the elite ranks, even though the elites get all the suicide missions. Choose based on what _you_ want."

Finally, after a long minute, Miles said, "I don't feel like I have enough information to make that choice at the moment, least of all for my men as well—who I assume will need to go through this same process. If you're serious about this, would it be possible for me to talk with people from each about what the job entails before deciding?"

"That's easy enough to arrange," Tseng agreed. "I can share with you whatever you'd like to know about the Turks—Eden has plenty of other work to do and needs to find some time to rest before going back on guard duty—and it's easy enough to find someone in SOLDIER and the Infantry to talk with you."

"Felicia's here, so if we asked her to come down here, I'm sure she would," Eden added, giving Miles a slight nod to show he understood the hidden intent behind the other man's words. In short, he was asking the blond to act as the middleman between him and his two men while they were being kept apart.

"Then please do so," the red eyed man agreed.

Arrangements were quickly made and Eden left the room to continue talking with the others who were being kept in those rooms. By then, he'd noticed a pattern to how they had been placed, so was sure Mei was across from Miles' room, and the other two Briggs soldiers were across from Al's and Winry's on Miles' side of the hall. If his assumption was right, it would be easy enough to find each, so decided to start with the other two Briggs soldiers. His discussions with them were similar to his with Miles, and they also requested the data their commander had, so he went back to Miles' room to inform the people there that both other soldiers wanted the same thing.

Once all of that was arranged, he went to the last room, the one past Winry's, and opened the door to see a bored-looking eleven-year-old Mei sitting at the table. She had long, black hair tied in buns with several slender, long braids dangling from each, deep brown eyes, and dressed in her Xingese clothing. It was mostly dusty rose with a pair of loose pants and a long-sleeved, wraparound shirt, and she had a white sack-like bag which sat on the floor beside her chair. From what Eden could see, it had clothes in it, but not much else.

As he walked in, she looked up—and stared in surprise. "What are you doing here? Did you come to rescue us? Where are the others, Alphonse especially?"

He grinned in amusement and answered, "You don't actually _need_ rescuing, the others are nearby trying to figure out what kinds of jobs or positions they'll have, and I'm here to tell you what your options are."

She gazed at him shrewdly for a moment, then said, "We can't go back to Amestris. You can't either, can you?"

"Nope. Then again, after the time I've spent here and the people I've met—my new friends and family—I'd choose to stay here anyway. In the meantime, you still need some kind of livelihood," he answered.

"Did Alphonse know we couldn't go back, that you couldn't go back?" the eleven-year-old asked then, tone still shrewd.

The question made Eden blink in surprise as he moved over to sit at the table across from her. Finally, he asked, "What did he tell you?"

"Only that you had been sent far away in exchange for his life. We thought that meant somewhere else on our world, so we planned for that, not for...this."

"...He knew, but he may have deliberately erased it from his mind because he didn't want to believe it, or just resorted to 'tactfully omitting' some information."

"...I see...How can you tell me what my options are?" Mei asked, head tipped to the side. "Isn't that up to the Commander or that Xingese man, Tseng?"

"Tseng is my boss, and he's working with me to set you up," the blond answered, "The people with your looks are called Wutains, but Wutai is close enough to Xing in things like traditional clothing, culture, looks, and things like that, for you to pass as a relative of his or even just a displaced ward due to circumstance. Now that Shinra and Wutai aren't at war with each other, it's a lot easier to arrange that without issues, but you'll have to talk with him about details that way. Now, as to the other...For you, because you're only eleven until...When's your birthday?" he began, only to ask a question instead.

"The thirteenth of February (1)," the girl filled in.

"Okay, so because of that, the main option we were going to offer you was for Tseng to act as your guardian while you went to school at the Academy. The Academy offers many fields of study, from combat to medicine to other kinds of academics, and you're free to stay on there until you're eighteen. Fourteen is when you're deemed an 'adult', but that doesn't mean you have to choose a job then, and just attending the Academy doesn't mean you have to become a Shinra employee when you graduate. Attending it will give you the ability to do research on this world—properly—and to discreetly pass your findings on to the others so it doesn't become obvious none of you know the first thing about the Planet—the common name for Gaia. What do you think?"

She looked at him for a long moment, but then asked, "What about Alphonse and Miss Winry?"

"Winry's already got a job working with one of Shinra's top engineers, and Al hasn't made a choice yet, but he'll also have the option of going to the Academy for awhile, or of taking a job. I'm recommending that if he wants to jump right into work, he puts his skills to use with the autonomous group called Gaia's Refuge. Of course, you could always let Gaia's Refuge move you to their safe-town in Wutai and get lessons there, but even for them, you're under the age of adulthood, so would have to go to school or wind up out on the streets. I'd rather you not wind up out on the streets."

Again, the girl was quiet for a minute, but then she nodded and said, "I like the Academy option the best, but I don't know much about it. Did you go there?"

"No. I did self-study while trying to decide if I was going to accept the invitation I got to join the Turks. On the other hand, I know several youngsters who are attending the Academy, which all of us from Tseng to Genesis to me call 'our kids,' even though some of them are only two years younger than me. You'd be added to their number. It's easy enough to find out more, but I think you'll have to wait for Tseng because it's technically on his word you have approval to attend without any kind of preliminary tests or anything," Eden explained.

Completely out of the blue, Mei said, "Truth gave us knowledge of the language. I found out it's the written language as well as the spoken one, but...it was given to us by some other force, so that force could just take it away again."

Raising a brow, the blond said, "It could. However, because Truth isn't the only higher force we're dealing with here—there's a literal over-arching sentience called Minerva as well—there's a good chance we actually know the language because _she_ gave it to us, not because Truth did. Minerva isn't the type to retract a necessary skill from her champions. And Mei, all of us from Amestris—or Xing—count as 'her champions' here on Gaia. Also, familiarity with using it could well mean we're 'learning' it now, and if she _did_ retract it later for some reason, we'd probably still _know_ it. I don't see that happening, though—Minerva's not stupid."

Frowning a bit, the girl said, "You don't believe in Gods. In any God, which is what an 'over-arching consciousness' is. Alphonse told me."

"I believe in Minerva, because there's tangible proof of her existence here. Also, my path here and the things I've managed to get my hands on are all _way_ too contrived to even count as 'luck'. There's a girl who can talk with her directly, and Genesis—the red haired man who brought you here—also uses powers channeling through him directly from her. She's the Lifestream, the consciousness of this world's 'veins of the dragon'. This isn't like the 'Gods' on our world, which were all 'blind faith' types—she's indisputably real."

"...Fine, I'll talk with Tseng about going to the Academy. How long will he be?"

"At least as long as it takes him to explain the Turks to the Briggs men. I don't think he'll be too long, since he's efficient if nothing else."

"...Okay. Thanks for letting me know."

 **Notes:**

Yes, Mei's thought processes jump around quite a bit. She's eleven, and even with her level of training in focus, she's still an easily distracted kid with a lot of questions she wants answers to. Ed's just going along with it because every other kid he's met, maybe with the exception of Shelke, has done it to greater or lesser degrees as well.

(1) The day and month is made up, but the year is the interesting part. The basic assumption I'm going by is that Gaia and Earth have the same months and days (this is noted by the producers), and the world Amestris is on is implied to be an alternate dimension of Earth, meaning it also has the same month/day calendar. The only thing different between them is the years, and that means Gaia has at least 100 extra years of development, besides the fact that they began with different technology (Spira's).

For the purposes of the Amestrians' birth dates, if they had a month and a day (which I don't think any ever did, author's prerogative), those would be the same in both worlds, and all of the Amestrians' birth YEARS have been moved by the Turks to match the year they'd have been born in to be their current age on Gaia—yes, even Ed's.

For the kids, that means the following dates:

Edward: Jan. 12, 1984 (rather than 1899, month/day unknown) *The author noted in one manga that Ed's birthday was in winter, but for the large, northern island of Japan (where the author grew up), that's about half the year—so this is as good a date as any!

Alphonse: Sept. 16, 1985 (rather than 1900, month/day unknown)

Winry: June 3, 1984 (rather than 1899, month/day unknown)

Mei: Feb. 13, 1989 (rather than 1904, month/day unknown)


	7. 05-Alphonse Re-Visited

**A/N:** Even though I've so far kept the part about Mei having a crush on Al, I never thought the presentation of that pairing was done well, so didn't agree with it, and it's highly unlikely they'll be together by the end of this story. Also, they've both got a lot more options now, so it would be unlikely a 'first crush' would hold for too long.

Alphonse Re-Visited

Since Eden was done talking with the others, when he left Mei on her own and returned to the hall, he wondered exactly what he was going to say to Al. Outside his brother's room, a few feet from the Infantryman at the door, he stopped as he felt a sudden apprehension about how well another _discussion_ with his brother would go. If he thought about it, his nervousness was actually rather unwarranted, especially since he pretty much knew what to expect and how to deal with it. Despite that, however, there was a persistent thought that maybe things wouldn't go as well as he hoped.

"All right, Eden?" Tseng asked from behind him after several minutes of him just standing there—several minutes which had started unnerving the guard.

"Yeah. I finished talking with Mei, and she's willing to work things out with you to attend the Academy," the blond Turk answered over his shoulder. "But the only one left now is back to Al, and he's the hardest one for me to deal with other than Teacher."

"Do you want me there?" the Wutain asked.

Giving a wry smile as he shook his head, the younger Turk replied, "No. He won't believe I meant what I said unless I reaffirm it while there's no one there to 'keep me in line'. This time, I have to face him on my own."

Tseng rested a hand on his shoulder and said, "I understand. I leave matters in your hands, then. Do you want me to call Rude here to meet you when you're done?"

"...I'll probably need someone to...If he's not out on another mission already, Rude's the best one, I think. He's the one who can ground me."

"Well, no time like the present, then. The sooner you go talk to your brother, the sooner you'll be done and able to have Rude help ground you again."

Straightening, Eden gave a nod and headed for Al's room, even as Tseng's hand fell away from his shoulder. Now, he was both really hoping for the best and fearing the worst at the same time. Without pausing at the door, he just walked in and closed the door behind him, turning to face Al as the other boy got up from the cot still in the back of the room from overnight. After a glance around, Al's gaze became confused as he looked at his brother again, watching the older blond move over to sit at the table.

"No guards this time? Or did you give them the slip?" the fifteen-year-old asked half-eagerly as he sat across from his brother.

Eden's lips quirked and he said, "I was never under guard, nor did I have anyone to slip away from. Of course, you're still my brother, so I knew you'd assume the things I told you were being monitored, even controlled, by Tseng. Let me just make this clear, Al. I wasn't forced to join the Turks, they aren't holding anything over my head, and this is where I would stay, even if I _could_ go back to Amestris." The younger blond's eyes went wide in shock, so he said, "I'm not a puppet. These are my choices, and this is my life. That's why I told Tseng I'd talk with you alone this time—because I knew what you'd assume and knew I'd have to correct that quickly, before you got any strange ideas about 'rescuing' me. As long as someone else was in here with me, you wouldn't take my word as fact. So, are you willing to _listen_ to me now?"

There was a silence as the younger blond studied the older, then turned his gaze absently off to the side as he thought about or recalled something. Finally, he looked back at Eden and said, gaze pained, "It's really true we can't go back, and it's true we've lost you as well. What kind of life are we supposed to have here, then?"

"You haven't 'lost' me, it's just that I have other things besides just you which I have to focus on. There are things you can do for this world, and it's really only a matter of you deciding how you want to go about it. That's what I'm here to talk with you about," the older blond explained. "I'm not going to just cast you aside, out into the cold with nothing. That's not me, and Al, you're still my brother, no matter what the Turks are to me—I still care about you just as much as I ever did and I want to see you thrive now that you've got your own body back. You've got a life, a good, strong pair of legs—"

"So get up and use them," Al finished with a wry grin. "Move forward. That's what you said to Rosé. I must be acting pretty badly if you feel you need to say it to me."

"Or, you got too obsessed with me to remember you have your own life, and it's a life worth living even when I'm not there," Eden answered dryly, and Al blushed faintly as he looked down at the older's hands on the table. "I had that problem, too, it just feels like a really long time ago. Speaking of back then, wasn't your poor body pretty emaciated then?"

"Yeah. Teacher put me on a rehabilitation and exercise regimen to get me back into shape, but it's only around now that I'm pretty much back to the way I'd been when I was ten and lost my body in the first place. Now I have to adapt to—being older," Al explained with a small sigh and faintly fond smile.

"It's good she did that for you," Ed answered with a smile. "Now, are you prepared to look at what _your_ options are _because_ I'm a Shinra employee?"

"What does your job have to do with me and my options?" the younger blond blinked in surprise.

"Even though Turks can't have registered family, they can still have 'unregistered family'. What that means is that you get the benefits of having a Shinra employee as a relative, but you can't outwardly show the fact. My name is 'Eden' for a reason, and no one outside the Turks actually has any idea who I was before then—rather, everyone thinks I was already using an alias. However, if you want a job in Shinra or to attend the Academy up to the age of eighteen, I can give you a free pass to do so. You also can request Shinra housing or find your own, and you're free to come in and out of the building whenever you want. Obviously, if you're an employee or student, that also gives you free access to the cafeterias and training rooms and so on."

After pausing for a moment to let his brother absorb the new information, Eden went on, "Shinra isn't your only choice, though, because there's an autonomous group called Gaia's Refuge whose regular activities include investigation, policing, protection, and technology development. In technology, they're trying to develop feasible sources of alternative energy which won't cause harm to the natural environment. Their situations and activities regarding the other three are largely based on hunting down terrorists and dangerous criminals or keeping people safe from random attacks of criminals and monsters. That's all a cover for finding and removing from Shinra's reach people who are on their hit list for no real reason. I actually think you'd really like working with them, and Felicia and Shears, their leaders, are quite the characters."

"...And they'd just take me?" Al asked quietly, thinking about everything he'd been told. It was his turn to be mind-boggled by it—by everything. He'd thought he knew his brother well, but this was starting to look like 'Eden' almost had the entire world eating out of his hand.

"Yes, they would. They have a decidedly good rapport with Tseng after he marched me into their hideout in the Slums and told them he trusted them to take care of me if he couldn't have another Turk at my back. I spent two weeks with Felicia as a result, so our opinions of each other are quite high."

"Why do the Turks hold them in such high regard when it's their targets Gaia's Refuge is getting out of the way?"

"Because the Turks know not all the things they're being told to do are right, and if there's a way they can let some of those people get away, they'll do it. Of course, some criminals are such to both Shinra and Gaia's Refuge, and there's one guy at the very top of both's hit list—he used to be a member of Gaia's Refuge until they realized he wanted to slaughter the entire human race."

Al went pale at the words, then blinked and said, "Your job is to go after that guy, isn't it?"

"Oddly, no. I have the best luck at finding Fuhito, but he's a bloody slippery bastard and seems to be able to dodge things which should be killing him. He also has a vendetta against me because I keep ruining his plans and his work, so Tseng actually doesn't want me going after him, least of all alone," Eden answered, sounding amused. "That was why he went marching into Gaia's Refuge's hideout back before they technically had a rapport. The Gaia's Refuge Fuhito was part of had a different name and their main goal was just to blow up the Reactors—and who cared who died in the process? What they are now would suit you, I think. Of course, you're probably strong and skilled enough to join SOLDIER or the Turks, but I don't think you could handle having to obey unpleasant orders."

"If I can't, you're having a hard time with it, too," the younger blond answered shrewdly.

"Surprisingly, I haven't had _time_ to take many of those 'unpleasant' missions, and my main function at the moment comprises guarding the President's son, Rufus, and those keep me plenty busy."

"...How do you do it without alchemy? It doesn't work here, after all."

"Not in Midgar, thanks to the nine Reactors here. Actually, that's the crux of it—the reason I know we need an alternate energy source is because there's _no_ energy around the Reactors, not ambient life energy nor the 'veins of the dragon'. As such, near any Reactor, you can't use 'alchemy', but you _can_ use Materia, which functions like a spell or function-specific Philosopher's Stone, but benign in form and creation. The arrays the Materia function on are the same we know alchemically, and those arrays can be somewhat modified, even though they aren't quite as versatile as free-form alchemy."

"Materia?" At Al's question, Eden pulled up his sleeve to show him the Materia shards on one bracer and the glove—and his brother's eyes widened as he gasped, "But we can't touch them, any of us, so how can you—?"

"I can't touch them 'with my bare skin'," Eden replied dryly, tugging his sleeve down again. "But with something between my skin and them, I _can_ touch them, and the slots on weapons and bracers count as 'something between my skin and them'. What you're getting is basically an effect only we have because it's apparently a side-effect of seeing the Alchemist's Gate. Since all of you saw the Gate to have come through it, it now happens to all of you. The biggest difference is that there is no one who is unable to use Materia, though everyone's results are different—someone weak with them might only be able to cast once in a day, while a 'Mage', someone like Genesis or myself—or you—could cast several times."

"...So...what if I wanted to join the Turks so I could partner with you? It would be just like old times that way," the younger boy grinned.

"Which is exactly what I _don't_ need," the older blond answered, leaning back in his seat and gazing at his startled brother evenly. "As Tseng put it to me, if you tried to attach yourself to me again, we would both become liabilities. I know where he's coming from. You're not a suit of armor anymore—you can be hurt just as easily as any other human. If you or I or us both couldn't function if the other was out of commission, someone downing one of us would effectively down us both, and people like Fuhito would take advantage of that. If you _did_ join the Turks, it would have to be because you believe in it and could work just as well with Tseng, Emma, Rude, or Freyra, or even alone, as you could with me. By default, that would mean we aren't partners and would only infrequently work together. It would be better for you to choose something you _want_ to do than to base your decision on _my_ job."

"...Oh..." Al answered. He thought quietly for a few minutes, then sighed and said, "I really don't know which way I'd go. I don't know enough about this world or the people or the jobs to judge that."

"Then start with the Academy, like Mei is doing," Eden replied, standing up. "Like I said, you can go until you're eighteen, and you can take job offers or not, or just quit for whatever reason. Just be aware that the level of propaganda here is through the roof and a lot of historical and social things—and scientific ones—you need to take with a grain of salt because they're probably either not true or are a highly modified truth to make Shinra seem—much better than they are. You'll be one of the few people who actually uses scientific method and logic, or even just plain common sense. Most of the 'world data' is true, though, like pyreflies and the data they have on Materia, monsters and monster skills, the world's geography, and so on. Come on, let's go down to the Academy to get you signed up."

"Oookay..." the younger blond agreed a bit uncertainly, rising to follow his brother from the room. "You can just do that?" he asked as they stepped into the hall.

"I trust things went better this time?" Tseng asked in amusement from further down the hall.

"Alphonse!" Mei said happily as she ran to Al to hug him, and he instinctively returned it. She then glared up at him and asked, "When were you planning to tell me—us—that this was a one-way trip?" When he jolted and blushed, the younger girl smiled a rather frightening smile and said, "We'll settle this later—we absolutely will, Alphonse!"

"Okay..." Al agreed in a near-whisper, expression pained again.

Eden (and Tseng and the nearby guards) looked at the two younger ones in amusement for a moment before telling his brother, "Back to your question, Al, yes, I _can_ 'just do that'. I told you, I'm not a hostage here." The nearby Infantrymen snickered at the words, and Tseng gave him a faint, wry smile. The blond Turk then looked up and around, seeing Rude further down the hall towards the elevator and the Wutain about five feet down the hall from him in the opposite direction. He focused on the black haired Turk and said, "Better enough to say he's going to try adapting. We're starting with the Academy."

"Then let me take both of the kids down to the Academy since the three others are being really stubborn about dealing with anyone but you for their decision," Tseng sighed softly. "Just to be clear on something, I know they want to have you act as their messenger, and instead of hiding that fact, you should have just told me."

"It's usually better to humor Briggs people," Eden shrugged. "So go on pretending you don't know or they'll think they're being manipulated."

Tseng chuckled as both Al and Mei stared at them, then the Wutain said, "It seems they have trust issues, and will continue to have them until they've been here awhile."

"Of course. The same will be true of the other five, too," the blond Turk shrugged. "But yes, you can get both of them set up at the Academy. Thanks." He then faced a frowning Alphonse and said, "I'll catch up with you later, once the Briggs guys have decided on what they're going to do. Just hang around the Academy cafeteria if you're not in a class—I don't think you'll be scheduled for classes until at least tomorrow, so it should just be getting registered today."

"...Okay. Just...try not to take too long," the younger blond agreed uncertainly. As Tseng led the two younger kids away, Rude approached Eden and rested a hand on his head, leaving Al completely puzzled by what _that_ was all about.

Once the three were gone, Rude asked quietly, "Doing all right?"

"I'm...still trying to adapt to having them here after I'd pretty much given up on seeing them again..." the teen sighed softly, closing his eyes and letting the man ground him.

"That's fine. Take your time," the bald man answered.

Both ignored the puzzled Infantrymen watching them from along the hall as they stood like that silently for several minutes, and finally, Eden released a deep sigh and opened his eyes again.

"I guess I'd better get back to work. Do you have time to wait for me?" Eden asked of the man. He nodded and lifted his hand, so the blond teen gave him a grateful smile, then headed for the room Miles was in and walked into it.

Miles raised a brow at him as he sat in the seat across from the man—who asked, "No guard this time?"

"Damnation!" Eden growled at the words, scrubbing a hand back through his bangs. "Do you really think they're controlling me?"

"Aren't they? I've never see you without Tseng until now," the man replied, pulling his shades off and placing them on the table.

"I'm working. He's my boss and co-worker. That would be like saying General Armstrong completely controlled everything you said just because she happened to walk into a room to talk with someone with you. Like it or not, I'm a Turk because I chose to be one, and they have a lot of respect for me and trust in me, so no—I'm not being guarded and never was. Tseng was there because he had legitimate reason to be, and you increased that 'reason' when you asked for details on your options. Also, Liam, Mick, Mei, and Al I talked with alone because Tseng was still _here_ or with one of the other Briggs guys," the blond explained in mild irritation. "Now, other than them wanting the same information as you and wanting an indicator from you as to which paths to look at, what's the verdict?"

With a small sigh, the man nodded and said, "I've been thinking about the differences in Shinra's system compared to our own, and I know Liam works very well in military structure, prefers it even. Danger or not, his best bet is to join the Infantry for the familiar structure, and I'm just grateful he's still of an age they'll take. As for—"

"An age they'll take?" Eden interrupted in confusion.

"...That's right, it never really applied to you," Miles shrugged in amusement. "Their minimum age is fourteen and their maximum age is forty. If you're older than forty when you apply, they won't take you—Liam is thirty-five, but Mick is forty-two. While Mick is still in shape just as good as Liam's, and would make the cut for all their other requirements, he's too old to join the Infantry, so we got lucky on their preferences. Now, as I was saying, as for Mick, I'd place him in Gaia's Refuge, but could he specify under Shears' command?"

Eden blinked as he processed the new data, then gave a wry grin and said, "Yeah, I can ask Felicia and Shears to do that for you, knowing how skilled Mick is—how skilled all the Briggs soldiers are," Eden agreed. "What about you, Major?"

Miles paused, then sighed and said, "Part of me is interested in SOLDIER while another part wants to run from it because of what they are—experimental subjects—but it's really more about the fact that my eyes will change color, which instinctively makes me think I'm losing part of myself. (1) I have a question for you, though...The—Materia shards, I believe the Commander called them?—have a debilitating effect on us. None of us who came through the Gate can touch them without experiencing it. Unless I miss my guess from what the Commander said, Mako is made of the same substance as Materia, so what kind of effect would that have on us if we got infusions of it?"

"From what I know, the effect would be much more mild and would place you in the category of an Ancient, or a 'Cetra', who were an ancient group of people on this world capable of communicating with this world's consciousness through the Lifestream. There's one who still has that ability, and it has very little effect on her daily life, other than some additional input she wouldn't otherwise have. It's on a different scale from Materia. Speaking of, because Al asked about this, too, I'll let you know now—Materia are only debilitating if you touch them with your bare skin, so make sure to wear gloves most of the time. Having them in bracers and weapons does nothing to us, but it has an additional effect—there are deficiencies and increases to people's functionality by using Materia in items with slots, but we don't get _those_ , either."

"...Interesting...Can you verify the first point?" the man asked curiously.

"Probably with a call to Shears to see if he can ask the person in question what Minerva—the name for the Lifestream's consciousness—says about how it would affect you. I've touched pure Mako in a Mako spring before. It wasn't debilitating, just distracting, and it had more similarity to the Philosopher's Stone in a warm and gentle way than it did to Materia, so I'm going based on that (2)," Eden replied. "And don't worry—everyone in SOLDIER feels disoriented for awhile after getting Mako infusions. It's not like that reaction would be unique to you."

For several minutes, the man sat and thought about what the teen had told him, then gave a slow nod and said, "Fine, get in touch with Shears, and if it'll take him a bit to get the answer, go tell Mick and Liam what I'd like them to do. Who gets to release them from here?"

"In Liam's case, anyone can take him down to the Infantry application desk, and once he's registered, he's on his own, though they'll give him instruction on his next steps. In Mick's case, if Felicia is still in the building, she can come get him when she's ready to head back into town and act as his escort to their base of operations." Eden then pulled out his PHS and dialed Shears' number as he said, "Anyway, I'll call Shears now."

"Yeah, blondie?" Shears asked rather languidly when he picked up the phone.

"Don't call me that," Eden glared into space. "Anyway, I wanted to ask you to check with your charge in the Slums to see how someone with Materia debilitation would react to a raw Mako infusion."

"I can do that, but it'll take a couple hours," Shears agreed.

"Good, thanks. And would you mind taking on one of the people Genesis picked up from the Slums the other day?"

"That's Felicia's call, not mine."

"I'm asking you first because the point of having him join Gaia's Refuge would be to be under your command. Felicia's already met with him, so I doubt she'll deny him a place there if he wants it."

There was a silence, then the man sighed and said, "She can bring him to me, and if he meets my standards, I'll take him. Otherwise, it's up to her to allocate him."

"Fair enough. Thanks, Shears," Eden grinned.

"Yeah. I'll be in touch later, then." Both hung up.

"Affirmatives for both, then?" Miles asked with a curious gaze at the PHS as the Turk pocketed his phone.

"Yup," Eden grinned. "It'll take a couple hours for Shears to call back about the first point, and he'll meet with Mick to see if he meets his standards. If your man is up to snuff, he'll be under Shears' command, and if not, his place will be up to Felicia. I sincerely doubt he'll fall short, though."

"He'd better not," the quarter Ishbalan snorted, then put his shades back on and said, "Off with you, then. You've got two more people to let out of confinement now."

"Right," the blond snorted and rose, walking out of the room.

 **Notes:**

(1) Miles may be a practical sort of person, and much like Ed, will use almost anything he can to his advantage, but he is shown to be extremely strongly rooted to his Ishbalan heritage. Part of that was the respect he always had for it, but part of it is also General Armstrong's support of him and respect for him and his heritage she had at the most crucial time in his life. That means said heritage isn't something he'll give up easily, regardless of how useful something would be. In the case of Mako, there's also the very real fact that it has an effect on people not all of them would be able to handle, which will be explained the next time Eden and Miles talk.

(2) Back in part 1 (Catalyst Array), Ed touched the pure Mako in Mt. Nibel's natural Mako spring, and I never indicated it had a debilitating effect on him, only said that he could feel the souls in it. This is the reason why I played it that way, and he's telling Miles how he perceived the liquid Mako in the spring.


	8. 06-Academy Kids

**A/N:** Near the end of the chapter is a discussion which introduces Equivalent Exchange. I hope Ed's perspective is adequately explained, because his response to it isn't what it would have been in FMA:B/manga, before he was sent to Gaia. This was somewhat handled in Catalyst Array, but not by calling it 'Equivalent Exchange' so directly, and this is now the conclusion of that.

Academy Kids

When Eden stepped into the hall, he was surprised to see Felicia standing by Liam's door as she rubbed the back of her head and looked confused. When she saw him, she asked, "Eden, is there some reason why these men won't make a decision without talking to you, first?"

"Yeah. I'm playing messenger for their commanding officer, so they won't decide on anything until I pass on to them his word," the teen answered. "Since you're here, you may as well stay, because Miles wants Mick to join Gaia's Refuge under Shears' command. Shears reserved the right to test him, and if he passed, he'd take him, but if not, you'd have to figure out what to do with him. Knowing the Briggs guys like I do, I'm sure he'll wind up with Shears anyway. When are you leaving here today?"

"In about an hour, after I meet with Rufus one more time for some paperwork on a factory plan we're taking over directly," Felicia said. "I'll figure out what to do with him for the immediate moment, then take him down to our base when I'm done here."

"No problem," the blond agreed, then looked down the hall to where Rude was talking with the Infantrymen who were relieved of duty now that the rooms they had been guarding were empty. Since he was busy, he turned to Mick's room and said, "Wait here for a couple minutes, though, so you can tell him that yourself once I've talked to him." She nodded, so he stepped into the room.

At the table sat a man with mostly grayed brown hair and a beard and mustache. "So, what word do you bring?" he asked once Eden had shut the door.

"The Major has places he thinks both you and Liam would prefer. Liam will apparently work best in the Infantry, and he felt you'd work best in Gaia's Refuge under Shears' command. I've talked with both Felicia and Shears, and they've both agreed to take you on, though Shears' terms were that he would get to test you, and if you passed, you'd work under him, otherwise you'd work under Felicia. Miles also agreed to the terms. So, does that work for you?"

For a minute, Mick sat thoughtfully in silence, eyes gazing towards the door while seeing nothing. He finally focused on Eden, then blinked and commented, "You've learned patience." The teen stared at him in surprise, then blinked and snorted, but Mick said, "That will work. What do I do from here?"

"I'll call Felicia back in so she can answer that, since I have to talk with Liam, too," the teen answered, grinning as he turned back to the door and opened it. Felicia was there as expected, so as he stepped out of the room, he told her, "The rest is up to you." She nodded and stepped back into the room, closing the door behind her.

With a bit of a tired sigh, the blond teen went to Liam's room and walked in, shutting the door behind him and facing the man inside. "Fullmetal," clean-shaven, dark haired and dark eyed Liam greeted as the teen entered. "You've talked to the Major again?"

"You _really_ have to stop calling me that," the blond said wryly. "The Major had ideas for you and Mick," Eden said. "Mick's slated for Gaia's Refuge. In your case, Miles figured you work best in rigid military structure, so your best option would be the Infantry—SOLDIER is too lax in its regulation for it to suit your need for rules and structure. Do you agree with his assessment?"

With a wry grin, Liam gave a small nod and said, "The military's the only thing that worked for me because of that rigid structure and adherence to the chain of command. I wasn't sure how different SOLDIER and the Infantry were in that regard, but by their descriptions, the Infantry definitely has more of the structure I need, so I'm fine with it. What do I need to do to join, then?"

"You don't, really. I'll get the guard outside your room to take you to their people to sign up. I don't have any pull there, so you'll have to start at the bottom and work your way up, but I have a feeling you'll rise in the ranks pretty quickly with your skills. So, get up and let's head out," the blond Turk grinned, turning back to the door to pull it open.

Liam quickly joined him at the door, so Eden faced the guard just outside and told the man, "Liam is interested in joining the Infantry, so would you mind showing him to your facilities to sign up?"

"That's really okay, Eden?" the Infantryman asked curiously.

"Yup, it's fine. He has clearance for that—he's also not the one who tried to escape this morning," the blond Turk chuckled wryly.

Liam stared at the blond as the other man chuckled and said, "Good point. All right, then, leave him to me. Thanks for helping us sort this out."

"Who tried to escape?" Liam asked in confusion.

"Miles," Eden answered in amusement, and Liam groaned and rubbed his eyes tiredly.

"Well, let's head on down, then, 'Trooper'," the Infantryman said wryly, beckoning Liam to follow him. The Briggs soldier gave the blond a wave as he followed the other man away.

The only Infantrymen left were the two outside Miles' room and the one outside Mick's, indicating that Felicia was still in the room—which made sense, as he hadn't been in Liam's room for more than a couple minutes. Rude was down the hall a short ways, so he turned to the larger man and joined him, releasing a deep sigh as he did, muttering, "Geez, I'm tired. That was so draining..."

"That's to be expected," Rude answered, resting a hand on Eden's head again.

With a faint smile, the blond Turk said, "Well, that takes care of just about all the rest of this, at least until Teacher and the others come to try to get them—the kids especially—back."

"You should rest."

It was very tempting, admittedly, but Eden still had work, and a lot of it, to do. "As much as I'd love to, I need to meet Al at the Academy and I still have to finish up with Miles. You know, something tells me he's going to choose the Turks."

"Who?"

"Miles."

"Why?"

"I think he's still so tied to his Ishbalan heritage—the reason he has dark skin and red eyes—that he won't be able to give it up in the end. (1)"

"I see."

"Hey, Rude..."

"Yes?"

"...Come with me to meet Al, please?"

After a long pause, the bald Turk agreed, "Of course." The man dropped his hand from the teen's head and the two headed for the elevator to go down to the Academy.

More than anything, Ed wanted Al and his new family to get to know one another, to possibly start forming bonds of their own, because he didn't really want to be forced to choose between them. Like he'd told Al, he'd _have_ to choose the ones who needed him more, but it wouldn't be easy and it would hurt like Hell if his two families couldn't start coming to terms with one another. He _cared_ about all of the people who had come from Amestris, and he _cared_ about all the people he'd met on Gaia (well, barring Fuhito and most of the Executives), and hoped he'd be able to have both rather than choosing, because either way, he—and they—would lose.

It didn't take long to get to the Academy floors, where Eden led the way to the cafeteria—and quickly found a table appropriated by all their 'kids' except Anthony now. And Cloud, he supposed, but he had never really joined them, anyway. Tseng was seated between Elena, who was at the end of the bench, and Mei as he talked with the blond girl, and Shalua, Shelke, and Yufi were sitting across from them. Tifa was beside Yufi and the other girl from the lab was beside her, while Alphonse sat beside Mei, both of them looking surprised and confused by the group at the table. There was still space to Al's and the former experiment's free sides, so Ed led the way over, dropping down tiredly beside Al as the others greeted him, most of them looking amused. Rude sat to Ed's free side with a faint smile as he saw the blond return their greetings with an absent wave.

"This is insane, Ed..." Al commented, not really sure where he was going with the words.

"It's not insane!" Yufi protested. "It's fun!"

"Where's Illis?" Eden asked her, looking up suddenly, one brow raised as he realized why there was one seat too many free.

Yufi blinked, then said, "We have weapons combat class next. She's helping the teacher set up, because otherwise it'll be too easy for me and not good enough for everyone else to really get good. Of course, she said if I'm not right here with everyone else while she's doing it, she'll never do it again, and that would just suck, so I have to stay here instead of exploring." The girl pouted at the words, which made Eden chuckle, but then she brightened with a grin and added, "But at least I hope that means the class will be fun, since Illis is really strong, like you!"

"I see...Well, she probably has a point," the blond Turk replied. As Yufi opened her mouth, eyes hopeful, he said quickly, "No, I'm not going to help her or join your class. You haven't even had one yet, so see how that goes before judging it."

"Aw..." the Wutain girl whined, then dug into her meal.

"Insane..." Shelke muttered. "You are completely insane, Yufi...I shouldn't have agreed to keep taking combat classes..." The words made Yufi glare.

"Why not?" Eden asked her before the other nine-year-old could retort. Shelke's eyes, now a normal blue rather than the Mako-blue from when she'd been in Deepground, moved to his. "Knowing how to fight means you can protect yourself instead of relying on someone else to do it for you. The only thing you're doing is _learning_. No one said you had to use it in daily life."

"You do. All of you," Shelke replied.

"Not Shalua," Eden told her. "Tifa knows how to fight, but she doesn't want to join SOLDIER or the Turks, even though she actually qualifies for them at her current skill level. Al hates fighting other than in friendly matches, but he's damned good at it. And your friend there isn't even taking combat classes, is she?" At the last, the blond Turk motioned at the thirteen-year-old former experiment girl, who nodded. "You don't have to live your life by fighting, whether you know how or not. Turks and SOLDIERs live their lives in combat because they _chose_ to. We picked our place and method."

"I can't say that's entirely true about the Turks, though," Tseng said dryly, joining the discussion as Elena listened curiously. "Several of the Turks were criminals we caught and gave them an ultimatum—work for us or go to prison. Or stay in prison, depending on the circumstances. Kariya, Rude, Reno, Balto, Alvis, and Illis all joined us that way. Though, it _is_ true they chose to hold combat roles or they wouldn't have gone to crime in the first place."

Raising a brow, Eden looked at Rude and asked, "You were a criminal?"

The man looked amused as he said, "A long time ago."

"What did you do?" Elena asked in avid curiosity.

"Sabotage," the darker man answered, and Eden burst out laughing as Tseng's lips twitched. "And making bombs."

"Apparently, Veld got really angry with him because he kept destroying construction vehicles and the train to the Upper Plate, and every time he did it, there was a part missing, along with it causing quite a bit of damage," the Wutain Turk explained. "It took a very creative trap for the Turks to catch him, and one of our old hands had to go toe-to-toe with him for over two hours before Rude was exhausted enough to give up the fight."

"You're strong!" Yufi gasped. "Help me practice sometimes!"

"Maybe," Rude relented a bit. "I have someone to take care of already, though."

"Eden, how did you ever get him to say more than four words at a time?" Tseng asked the blond with a raised brow.

"When he became a father-like figure to me, he started realizing he sometimes needed to say more than four words to get his point across," the teen answered in a dry tone. "He still sometimes reverts to a text message, though."

"A what?" Al asked in confusion.

"Hey, since I never had to figure it out, where do you buy a normal PHS?" Ed asked as he looked at Tseng with a slightly raised brow.

"There are technology shops all over the city which have them," the man answered. "The best one to ask is Genesis—or the kids, like Shalua and Tifa."

"Probably Genesis, then," Eden replied, and Tseng's brow rose a bit more.

"He should be in his office at four," the older Turk answered.

"Great, thanks!" There was a moment of silence as the three Turks noticed Shalua and Tifa were both pouting, then Ed faced Al to ask, "Were you actually introduced to everyone, or just dragged over here to sit down and eat?"

"Sort of both," Al sighed. "Apparently, I'm taking some classes with Elena and Shalua, so I was introduced to them, but not to anyone else. And 'Yufi' puzzles me the most."

"She's Wutai's Princess, and they're all...think of Lan Fan and make an entire country like her and her grandfather," Eden replied.

Mei made a little 'eep' sound as Al paled and muttered, "A whole country...Ed, how does the world still function?"

"Because it has enough energy to go around," the Turk replied dryly. He then proceeded to introduce the rest of the group to Al and Mei, then returned the favor.

"Hey, if that's true, I can spar with Yufi," Mei suddenly offered. "I need to keep my training up, too."

"That'll be fun!" Yufi agreed with a grin.

"Okay, next question," Al put in suddenly. "Where are we going to live, Ed?"

After a silence, Tseng mused, "I wonder if Shalua's building has more apartments free for other students to take. After all, her apartment is getting cramped."

"They do, it just depends on who moved when," Shalua answered. "And yes—now that I have four people living with me, it's _really_ cramped. That's two to a room, except for Anthony. I'm just glad he's the only guy or sharing rooms would get harder."

"Yufi was given a residence in Sector 2, and it has the space to accommodate Mei for certain," Tseng mused. "Which is likely a good thing with them both being of similar background. We'd need a separate apartment for Anthony and Alphonse now, and possibly Cloud if he'd like to join them, and it has to be near Shalua's because of Anthony's insistence on protecting her and Shelke. Tifa and Elena need places, and like the boys, Elena will want to be close to Shalua and Shelke, so a minimum of two apartments..."

"My brother's never actually going to be able to stay over at our place, so Elena could just keep living there if she wanted to," Shalua offered. "That leaves Tifa."

"Winry needs a place to live, too, so maybe she and Tifa can share?" Ed suggested.

"That has potential," Tseng agreed.

"Why do so many people want to protect Shalua and Shelke?" Mei asked curiously.

Silence followed the words, until Shelke muttered, "I don't want to talk about it," as she stared down at her plate.

"For a few days, you could let your brother stay with you, Eden," Tseng said, diverting attention from the previous topic. "Three days should give us time to work something out. Are you actually free to rest, or was there still more to finish up?"

"I need to get a call back from Shears before I can finish up with Miles," the teen sighed.

"That's a horrible name..." Mei glared.

"It's no worse than Scar," Eden snorted.

"Scar?" Tifa asked in confusion. "Who would be named that?"

"It's not his real name," the blond Turk answered. "There was an incident where he got hit with a flame attack and wound up with a big, X-shaped scar mostly on his forehead. He threw away his birth name and went on a killing spree, and others started calling him 'Scar' so he kept it."

"Then he threw _that_ away, too, and told General Armstrong to give him another name so he could start over again," Al put in dryly. "She _did_ give him a new name, so we know him as Amal now."

"You know some really strange people, even for a Turk, Eden," Elena commented, gaze amused. She and most of the other kids also looked rather confused.

"So I've been told," he agreed. His gaze then moved to Al and Mei as he asked, "So, what classes did you wind up taking?"

"I thought it would be useful to take unarmed combat and Materia classes, and the rest are academic," Al answered, blinking a few times before smiling in amusement. "I really wasn't sure what kind of things I should take, so I just took a variety of things I thought sounded interesting."

"That's fine. You'll be able to focus on something later," the older brother nodded, then looked at Mei.

"I took all the combat classes and the Materia class, then lots of world classes, like geography and zoology and others," Mei told him. "I like to travel, so those are things I need to know to travel safely. Staying here is okay for now because Tseng said Midgar is like sixteen cities to explore by itself, and we saw only a couple of those when we got here."

"That's entirely true," Eden agreed in amusement.

"It's almost time for class now," Shalua suddenly sighed, then pushed herself up and gave the blond Turk a glare. "You should let us help you find a PHS because Genesis is way too busy, anyway."

"You don't have any more time than him, and your studies are more important than his established job he can get someone to cover for him on," the blond teen informed her with a raised brow. "And besides, I'm not looking for a PHS for myself, I'm looking for them for Al, Mei, and Winry."

"Reeve will give Winry one," Tseng put in. "But Al and Mei need them, and unlike you, we can't just give them ours, because at this point, they aren't Turk candidates."

"Yeah—and even though I'd gotten the offer, Veld was _really_ lenient with me," Eden chuckled. "I knew you lot shouldn't have let me have one of yours when I hadn't even agreed to join, and 'agreeing to think about it' doesn't qualify as a sound reason."

"That tells you how badly Veld wanted you to join, and hoped being so lenient would put you more in our favor," Tseng replied. "You tell me—did it work?"

"Hardly," the younger Turk replied with a snort. "I'd have given what I could back if I'd decided not to join, but—just like some of your rules about leaving had no bearing on my choice to stay, what you'd given me had no bearing on my joining. Or maybe just a little bit. I don't live my life based on 'owed favors'."

Al choked on his food, Mei blinked in surprise, and the rest of the girls chuckled or giggled, then began rising.

"We'd better get to class," Shelke said as they were gathering their things.

"See you around, then," Eden agreed, giving them a wave as they began heading away.

"What about Equivalent Exchange?" Al asked Ed warily. "You _always_ base _everything_ on that, which would mean you _did_ join because of those favors."

"What's Equivalent Exchange? This is the first time I've heard you mention it," Tseng commented with a small frown.

Mei, Al, and Ed all blinked at the Wutain man in surprise before Mei offered, "The short form is that you have to give something up in order to get something. In Xing, we learned that there were some things it applied to—like mathematical equations, personal fitness, or the knowledge you gain—but it doesn't apply to everything because it can't. You can only get fit or learn something if you put in the time and effort, and anything with an equation has to equal out, so it can only do that if there's some sort of exchange. But, just because you put in the time to learn something, it doesn't mean you'll get the job you want, because just how much _you_ know or how much work _you_ put in aren't the only things to decide that."

"I see," the Wutain said with a nod, then turned to look at Eden questioningly.

"Ed...The last time I saw you—you _died_ to Amestris so I could _live_. Do you really think I can believe you don't still live that way?" the younger blond asked with a puzzled look at his older brother.

The Turk sighed and said, "I grew up after being here for awhile, especially when Rude made me realize trust and companionship were just as valid 'things' to give someone as a gift that cost money. The 'favor' was paid by my treating the leniency with respect and not misusing it, and that was all I was actually _expected_ to give. When you start factoring in things like people being born into wealth or working an entire lifetime and never gaining wealth, or the results of the State Alchemist exams, Equivalent Exchange doesn't actually apply to 'life' and to 'living', it only applies to science, arithmetic, and alchemy, things which can only function because of _materials_." He then pushed himself up and said, "Now, since it's just us, let's head to my apartment to talk more."

The others agreed, so they headed upstairs. On the way, Eden's PHS vibrated to let him know he had a text message, so he checked it—only to read a message from Rude:

 _I had wondered why you had such difficulty back in Gongaga and Cosmo Canyon when people did things for you without expecting reciprocation. I'm glad that much got through to you, because in all honesty, if I had ever thought you were going to join the Turks to repay the favors Veld gave you, I'd have recommended you not do it._

Eden turned to Rude to give him a puzzled look, a clear question of ' _why_ ' in his gaze.

The reply also was via the text message system on his PHS:

 _Turks don't make good Turks unless they're actually willing to do the missions they're given. We may all have had our own reasons for joining, but in the end, we still all made the decision because of our reasons, not because we were forced. Even the ultimatum we were given was a minor factor for those of us who had been criminals. We were willing to do this job because something about it called to us—just like something about it called to you. If I had ever thought you weren't really willing to do your job as a Turk, if I ever had a reason to doubt the logic you gave me for your choice, your position with us would—not be nearly so effective because you'd be fighting us every step of the way over everything we did which you thought wasn't right. In Deepground, you wouldn't even have done your job, would you?_

The blond Turk gave the man a small nod after reading the message, then looked away from the man, not replying—not because he was upset, but because he knew Rude was right, and as such, he had nothing to reply _with_ beyond the nod of recognition. Though, he slowed down enough for Rude to fall in beside him and let his shoulder bump the man's arm as they walked, acknowledging the words and the man's support silently.

 **Notes:**

(1) If it hadn't been Miles, Liam, and Mick who came to Gaia, one of the Briggs soldiers may have wound up in SOLDIER, but I firmly believe exactly what Ed said here: Miles is too attached to his heritage to give it up. That's known and noted in FMA:B. Miles is just having a really hard time figuring out which way he actually wants to go because there are so many pros and cons to each one of his options.


	9. 07-First Group Sorted

First Group Sorted

When they reached the door to Eden's apartment, Freyra and Balto were standing outside it whispering to each other, but the pair faced the group as they approached.

"Is something wrong?" Tseng asked the two Turks.

Freyra first pointed at a black box near the ceiling which hadn't been there a couple days before, then at the door to Eden's apartment. The Turks' lips pressed into fine lines and Eden quickly opened his apartment door to let everyone in, closing it behind him—after throwing a modified Silence spell at the black box to make it not hear noise rather than not make noise. He then gave a small chuckle when the Seal Materia imprinted a new array in it called Deafen and joined the others sitting around in his living room. Tseng had appropriated the same chair he'd sat in last time, Al and Mei had taken the couch by the far wall, Balto was in the chair across from Tseng, and Freyra had curled up on two thirds of the couch nearer the door. Rude actually pulled one of the kitchen chairs over to sit in it between Tseng and Freyra.

"Did something just happen?" Al asked in confusion, hearing the chuckle.

Sitting on the free arm of the couch Freyra was on and looking wryly amused, the blond Turk informed them, "I now have a 'Deafen' spell on my Seal Materia, something I got by making that black box unable to hear noise."

"That will be useful," Balto nodded.

"When we saw that box there, though, that was really troubling," Freyra said, the concern in her gaze strong. "They're getting really bold, and someone probably suspects we're up to something or they wouldn't be putting listening devices on the Turks' floors."

"You verified that's what they were?" Tseng asked the two.

"Alvis and Reno hijacked the one on the Academy floor and pulled it apart," Balto said. "They verified it's a listening device which records everything said within about forty feet accurately, and it can continue to record and store what it hears for about a week before it runs out of space. It can't hear through doors and walls, or hear only muted and distorted noise, at least, but if they get any more advanced, we'll have a serious security breach. The problem is what will happen if we start taking them out, and what will happen if we leave them."

"Wait, are you talking about some kind of wire tap?" Al asked in sudden realization. The others looked at him, Balto and Freyra in confusion and the others with tired expressions.

"It could be taken as a type of wire tap, I suppose," Eden sighed at last. "Of course, we could always turn their own trick back on them by using our control of the cameras..." At his smirk, Tseng suddenly chuckled, and all the Turks in the room developed smirks, even Freyra.

"Ed, what's going on?" Al suddenly asked plaintively in confusion, not having any idea why all the Turks were suddenly smirking. After all, what good were a bunch of devices which took still images?

Instead of answering, the blond looked at the Wutain Turk and asked, "So what are the rules for dealing with internal spies, Tseng?"

"We actually have the right of that, because we _are_ the company's spies. If someone else is spying on us, we have every right to find out who and eliminate them as threats to company security, as long as we pass on the appropriate report afterwards. We can also 'take over' the apparent spying going on, because no one but us ever had the authority to do any. Unless we're stripped of that authority, which would mean disbanding the Turks, even the President can't fault us for stopping what we believe to be a security threat," Tseng answered, looking very satisfied. "And with our control of the cameras, yes, we can work with that. Personally, though, I think we'll find it leading to an unexpected source."

"How unexpected is it likely to be?" Freyra asked curiously. "I mean, unless it led back to Reeve, or maybe Palmer, I wouldn't be at all surprised, and we know they're not Reeve's or we _wouldn't_ know they were there."

"My bet's on Hojo or the President," Eden put in, and the others all stared at him. He clarified, "Emma mentioned missing Academy students. Where did they disappear to without a trace unless it was to some kind of hidden experimental facility?"

"Who's Hojo?" Mei asked suddenly, looking worried.

"The head of the Science Department and a sadistic doctor with no moral compass," Eden told her and Al shortly.

"What did he do to make you so angry?" Al asked warily.

"Tortured Genesis and Sephiroth, who are both friends of mine, and tortured and experimented on a lot of other people," the older blond replied as he clenched his fists.

"But the Commander—" Al began before stopping abruptly and staring down at his knees.

"...So who are these kids, anyway, Tseng?" Balto asked.

"Alphonse is Eden's brother, and Mei is now my ward, but she also came from their home," Tseng answered evenly, and Balto blinked, turning to gaze intently at the younger, short haired blond. "Both are set to attend the Academy starting tomorrow."

"The one who was effectively stuck in an isolation tank for five years and is somehow still—supposedly—sane?" Balto asked shrewdly.

Al's jaw dropped before he looked at Ed to ask, "How much did you _tell_ them?"

"I wasn't aware it was any big secret," Eden replied dryly. "Not here, anyway. Any time I had some sort of epiphany or breakdown, I told them more because I _had_ to deal with it somehow—not with actions, but emotionally and mentally. They got the whole story last night after I left you because I—completely crashed from trying to wrap my brain around the fact that my friends and family were suddenly here when I was just starting to accept that I was never going to see any of you again. Which probably means all the Turks know."

"Doesn't that bother you?" Al asked apprehensively.

"Al, it didn't bother me that they intimately knew the contents of my drinks since they met me," the older brother replied in amusement, causing the other Turks to chuckle, and Al and Mei both went cross-eyed. "Why would it bother me that they all know something I willingly _told_ two of them?"

A long silence followed the words, then the younger brother sighed and said, "So Tseng is your boss, and Rude is somehow like a father figure—I can't really imagine that, though—but how do the other two fit in? Are they just fellow Turks, or something more than that?"

"Turks are family," Freyra chirped with a wide grin. "You may as well think of every Turk as Eden's brothers and sisters, some of us are just closer to him than others. Other than Rude, Balto and I are the closest ones, and Illis. Reno is pretty protective of him now, too, after working with him on two really harrowing missions."

"All of the Turks are rather protective of their youngest brother," Tseng added wryly.

"If you're all so protective of him, why are you sending him after Fuhito when Brother said he has a vendetta against him?" Al asked sharply.

"And _I_ said they aren't, they're putting me on guard duty and like all Turks, I'm just keeping an eye out for Fuhito, not _looking_ for him," Eden snorted. "In fact, I remember telling you I've been told _not_ to look for him."

"Eden..." the Wutain Turk sighed. "You're not supposed to openly share the status of your orders with others..." However, he then tipped his head to the side as he met Al's gaze and said, "Being protective of him doesn't mean keeping him from doing his job, it means making sure he's equipped as well as possible to do it and hopefully stay alive. Nearly all of our missions are of the suicide variety, and we're well aware of the danger. As such, we take as many steps as possible to minimize that danger—but if we started to not let Turks do their jobs as a means of 'protecting' them, we'd become a useless and pointless unit."

"That's a really good point," Mei agreed thoughtfully. "But if that Fuhito is so bad, wouldn't Fuhito go looking for _him_?"

"We do, in fact, have reason to believe Fuhito is now targeting him, but we can't just lock him up and throw away the key, either," Balto answered that time. "In fact, doing so runs the risk of putting him in _more_ danger by having him not be prepared for what Fuhito may attack him with while 'hiding'. Guard duty is a lot more versatile than that and requires the full range of preparation regardless, so he'll pretty much be ready for anything by doing it, even without _looking_ for Fuhito."

A long silence followed the words, then Mei asked, "So what are you going to do about the other five who came here with us?"

"Bring them in much the way we did you and give them the same options," Tseng replied easily.

"Even if they come in here with the intent to attack you to take us back by force?" Al asked quietly.

"We've prepared for that likelihood," the Wutain Turk agreed. "We want to make things as quick and easy as possible, so we've already got a plan in place. Also, we're factoring in their reason and goal in coming here—they aren't Shinra's enemies, they're people who are confused and displaced who have suddenly found their charges missing. On that premise, all they actually want is for their charges to be returned to them without understanding that none of you are hostages in the first place. This is already cleared with every department in the building because we know we're baiting them and the battle will happen right here, leading to some inevitable property damage."

Al's eyes widened and he asked, "You planned all that just since you brought us in and even got everyone else in the building to agree to it?"

"We planned it starting after your first meeting with Eden last night," Tseng replied dryly, and that time, both Al and Mei stared at him in amazement.

Right then, Eden's PHS rang, so he pulled it out and checked the number, then answered it with, "So, have you been able to get in touch with your charge, Shears?"

"I have," he agreed as Eden saw the other Turks' amused expressions. "She came to find me, actually. The answer to your question is that you've assessed the result correctly, but that doesn't mean just anyone can handle the steady link, either. For your people, Mako infusions will effectively turn you into 'Ancients'."

"Got it, thanks," Eden agreed. "I'll be in touch again later to see how Mick did."

"I'll spare you the trouble and call you when I have a result," the man answered in mild amusement. "And she told me to tell you that if any of 'them' choose SOLDIER, introduce them to her before they've gotten their enhancements."

"I'll do that, then, and thanks again. Later," the blond replied with a smile. He then hung up his phone and put it away as he rose and turned back to the door. "That means I'm almost done for the day now. I'll be back once I've talked with Miles."

"Is it really okay for all these people to stay here, though?" Al asked warily.

Turning back to him with a raised brow, the older blond said, "They can come in whenever they want, anyway, so why should I care, exactly?" He then walked out, struggling not to laugh like the other Turks were at his brother's and Mei's stunned and horrified expressions.

Releasing a deep breath, he made his way back to the offices and to Miles' room, which still had the two Infantry guards outside it. Opening the door as the two saluted him, he stepped into the room and closed the door behind himself as the man in question turned to face him from where he'd been by the covered window.

"I hope you weren't trying to escape again," the young Turk said dryly.

The quarter Ishbalan looked faintly amused and moved back to the table to ask, "So, did you get the answer to your question?"

"I did, and I assessed the result correctly—it'll basically put you in the category of a Cetra if you do it. The question is, do you actually think SOLDIER is the right choice, or are you really just stalling for time?" Eden asked dryly, sitting across from him.

With a small sigh, the man replied, "I don't like to have only half of the knowledge of the situation I'd be going in to. I haven't asked for anything I didn't legitimately want to know, but if doing that also gave me more time to try to get out—or for the others to try to get in—that was a bonus. And believe it or not, I _have_ been assessing my options. As much as I see Mustang—or General Armstrong, for that matter—wanting to go for SOLDIER exactly because of the information it'll give him through the infusion, I'm not sure I could live with another voice in my head. There may be a lot of things I don't like about Shinra, about all of my options, but there's one thing which still stands out to me."

"What's that?" the teen asked curiously.

"You joined the Turks, and—they _do_ seem to have done right by you. If they were really just like the rumors around the Slums say, you wouldn't be with them," Miles told him. "Tseng admitted that they do a lot of things which are wrong, like kidnapping, murdering innocent people, covering up crimes, sometimes even destroying whole towns, but then that left me the question of your presence there. Why the Turks, Eden? What attracted you to them so strongly?"

Leaning back in his seat and linking his hands behind his head, Eden released a deep breath like a sigh, trying to decide how best to explain to Miles why he chose the Turks. "If my other reasons weren't enough—the funds, resources, and so on—then the only other thing I can tell you is that...they took an interest in me, not as employers or anything so impersonal. Freyra and Rude paid so much attention to me that they noticed I had missed two meals one day and were thoughtful enough to bring me a meal when they checked up on me. That's not the kind of action an employer takes, it's the kind of action a friend or family member takes. What I found with the Turks was a _family_ , Miles, a family who were taking those roles without even knowing I'd join them. I found something with them Al and Winry couldn't give me—a sense of _being protected_."

Miles' eyes widened at the words, then he looked away as he saw the teen watching him shrewdly. The younger of the pair added, "Also, the Turks aren't as absolute as people think they are, and just because I'm a Turk, it doesn't mean I have to take those kidnapping or murder missions. Tseng will only give me things he thinks are within the scope of my ability to actually _do_ , knowing the intended result won't be what he'll get if I can't bring myself to complete the mission because I can't stomach it. You have more experience with killing people than I do, but I _have_ killed before, and there's _at least one_ person here who is going to have to die or the world is doomed. It's not that I won't take missions where I'll have to kill—that's what the manhunt for Fuhito is—it's that I won't take a mission which will force me to kill an innocent person. There's no reason you can't make the same request."

"Surely some of the Turks are willing to do those horrible missions?" the darker man asked with a frown.

"Yeah, some do them," Eden agreed. "They all have their own reasons and justification. Some of them probably are just sadistic enough to not really care, but aren't sadistic enough to go torture someone without cause—their definition of 'without cause' just differs from mine, which I _know_ differs from yours. What _none_ of the Turks will do is betray or willingly harm another Turk. When Balto gave me the 'Turks are family' speech, I pretty much had a breakdown because it was so hard for me to grasp how people with no blood bond to me could be so loyal to me after the lack of loyalty I saw from my own father. And Balto now is one of my closest—siblings, even though I haven't really known him for that long. Even though he's willing to kill anyone he's told to kill unless he's given a good reason not to, he won't just let me or another Turk die, even if he doesn't agree with something they've done or want to do."

"...Shouldn't Tseng have given you that speech?"

"Actually, Veld—Tseng's predecessor—should have given it to me, but things didn't work out that way."

"Why not?"

"When I first joined the Turks, I wasn't ready to hear it. Tseng and Veld sensed that, so didn't say it right away, but waited just a little too long to actually tell me, so Balto did it. That's also when he went 'really-protective-older-brother' on me, too."

For several long minutes, Miles sat still and stared into space somewhere above the teen's head, semi-observing the teen while he thought about what Eden was saying about the Turks. Finally, he asked, "Does that mean the Turks' first loyalty is actually to one another, not to Shinra?"

"It does. Veld blatantly told me that as long as I was loyal to the Turks, he didn't _care_ where I had come from. I'd have been more worried if he's said 'as long as I was loyal to Shinra', but he didn't, and Turks don't have 'slips of the tongue'. He meant exactly what he said, just the way he said it," Eden informed the man.

After another pause, the man said at last, "I have too many reasons against joining SOLDIER or Gaia's Refuge, so I guess that leaves me with the Turks themselves. I'll give it an honest try and see if you—and they—are as good as your word."

At the words, Eden grinned and rose as he said, "I figured you'd choose the Turks. Come with me, then. It's just good for you your attempt at escape actually required a Turk to bring you back in, which means your skills are acknowledged by us as equivalent, therefore meaning you'll be able to make it as one of us. And it meant you had the creativity and the sheer gall to pull a stunt like that in the first place, something which is a must for a Turk if they expect to survive."

"So that incident had a use after all?" Miles asked as he also rose and followed the blond to the door.

"It did," the teen grinned as he opened the door and stepped out. The two Infantrymen turned to face him, so he said, "We've sorted this, so you two can go now. Thanks for your help."

"Is it all right if we ask for your decision, Sir?" one man asked curiously.

With a smirk, Eden replied, "The Turks are keeping him—after all, it took _Tseng_ to capture him again."

The two laughed at the words, then the second one said, "That's good to know, actually. Good luck, then."

All of them headed for the elevators, but Eden picked a different one from the one the two Infantrymen took and led the way back to his apartment. When he got inside with Miles following, he saw Mei with a puzzled expression on her face, Al looking rather horrified and embarrassed, and the Turks smirking with amusement. He shut the door behind the older man, then turned back to the others.

"Okay, so what horrors did you just inflict on my brother?" he asked dryly of the Turks, causing everyone to look at him and Miles in mild surprise.

" _What_ kind of people have you made friends with?" Al asked as he jumped up and ran to hug his brother, then hide behind him, causing Miles to give the younger blond an amused look.

"Friends who like to pick apart your mind to make sure it's working right," Eden replied dryly. "Balto is especially good at that. Are you sure you don't want to let him keep doing it?" The smirk on the older blond's face made the Turks' lips twitch.

"No Thank You!" Al answered emphatically from behind him, causing all of them to laugh.

"And the verdict is?" Tseng asked as he motioned at Miles.

"He picked the Turks like I thought," Eden replied, looking at Rude, who gave him a nod.

"I can live with that," Tseng agreed.

"Are you sure? You haven't seen his skills," Balto asked with a frown.

"Except I _did_ see his skills when it took _me_ to recapture him after he tried to escape earlier," the Wutain Turk answered dryly. Freyra's and Balto's eyes both widened. He then looked up at Miles and asked, "Was there a particular reason you decided on us?"

Miles peered intently at the younger man for a few moments before saying, "Eden trusts you, and he doesn't trust easily—not adults, anyway. When I asked him to explain in more depth, what he told me was the deciding factor in my choice. I can't kill innocent people, but Eden made the point of saying we have different definitions of the word 'innocent', so you and I will probably have to discuss where my limit is so you don't give me missions I can't do."

"That can certainly be arranged," the Wutain agreed. "Because Rude mentioned to me Eden's assessment of your likely decision, I had already been thinking of a possible code name for you, as that's the only thing Shinra will ever know you by. What do you think of Kamil?"

The older man blinked behind his sunglasses, then gave a faintly amused smile and said, "I guess that works." (1)

"I know you're skilled with both unarmed combat and guns, but which would you say is your 'main weapon'?" the head of the Turks asked curiously.

Another long silence followed, then the newly-named Kamil pulled his shades off and said, "In all honesty, my main weapon is twin daggers. It comes from my traditional heritage, from my grandfather to my father, and to me. I don't know how much Eden told you about that, but my eyes and skin tone come from that same heritage, and even though I'm only one quarter of it, I'm very strongly attached to it, so I developed those skills, and I revere them. I only needed to actively use them rarely back home, but if you want me at maximum capacity at all times—twin daggers is the way to do it. (2)"

"We'll have a sufficient weapon for you by the time we have your ID and bank card ready, then," Tseng agreed. "Welcome to the Turks, then, Kamil." He levered himself up and said, "We'll head up to our actual office to set you up."

"One thing—what will Winry do for a place to stay for the next three days?" Eden asked as he moved out of the Wutain's way.

"Go to Reeve's office and ask him," Tseng replied dryly. "It's a valid reason for you to be there, after all. Both Alphonse and Mei have temporary general ID's so they can travel the city freely until they're fully registered at the Academy and will be issued Student ID's. I'll be back for Mei later in the evening, and it's almost four, so you'll need to go meet Genesis as well. Try to be back here by nine, and don't make your paths obvious." He then beckoned Miles—Kamil—to follow him and the two left.

"...Right, we were supposed to be getting the two of you PHS's," Eden said wryly, turning to look at Al and Mei.

"So what's a PHS?" Mei asked. "You still haven't told us."

"Or what a text message is, exactly," Al added.

Freyra turned to look at Eden and asked wryly, "You didn't know, either, did you?"

"Nope," the blond agreed in amusement.

"You learn very fast and have an excellent memory, then," she chuckled.

"I do. I rather thought it was a necessity right then, too," Eden shrugged. He then pulled out his PHS and held it up for Al and Mei to see. "The PHS is the short form of a 'personal handheld system'. Basically, it's a phone you can carry with you, take pictures with, and send typed-out messages on—the last is a 'text message'. It's nothing more complicated than that, but you'll need some instructions on how to use one." Both gave little 'oh's', so he went on, "If Freyra doesn't mind, since she liked teaching me to use one so much, maybe I'll let her teach you, as well—and she's a good teacher."

"If they're even half as quick as you, I'll have fun teaching them," Freyra agreed.

"Does that mean you know where to find non-Turk ones?" the younger Turk asked her.

"Nope!" she replied cheerfully. "Like you, the first one I got was the Turk one."

"Do you want to come with us to ask Genesis about that, then?" he asked. "We can go check with Reeve once we know how much time he has."

"Sure!" the woman agreed, propelling herself up.

"Let's head out, then. You, too, Al and Mei," Eden said, and the two younger teens got up to head out with Eden and Freyra, both still looking puzzled. Eden called back to Balto and Rude, "See you guys later!" They followed the others out with similar replies.

 **Notes:**

(1) This name was actually accidental as the result of the code name system for the Turks, but Miles finds it amusing because it's an actual name in the Arabic system I'm basing traditional Ishbalan names on, and Kamil means 'perfect' or 'perfection'. He can't go wrong with that! :D

(2) Part of what I'm basing this on is scenes from the Ishbal War, which seemed to show many of their warriors and warrior-priests with short swords, daggers, or (rarely) pairs of them. In this case, I wanted one unique weapon, and twin daggers both has some basis in Ishbalan history and is unique to the other weapons in active use. Miles just happened to luck out in having a family tradition of one of their people's more unique fighting styles.


	10. Omake

**A/N:** So, this (admittedly comedy) piece popped into my head after re-watching some of the scenes from Before Crisis' chapter 20, where Cait Sith is introduced. It was a very obvious reference to Pokémon, so for 'the player Turk' to be so familiar with it, there had to be a similar franchise in FFVII. This was the result. It also kinda explains why Al and Mei were so unsettled by the time Ed and Rude joined them.

Hope you all get as much of a laugh out of this as I got while writing it and thinking back to my own Pokémon days! :D

Omake: Al and Mei Meet 'the Kids'

Tseng, Al, and Mei had just finished signing in at the Academy office and were now just arriving at the cafeteria, apparently at about the same time lunch hour was starting. As they neared the doors, the two newly-registered students noticed many of their peers holding strange devices in their hands. All the pair could tell was that they weren't the same devices they'd seen others using, like the Turks, Infantry, or SOLDIERs they'd met, but the devices seemed to produce varying sounds. It was a rather disturbing mish-mash of noise they could only describe as a 'cacophony'.

At the doors, Tseng stopped suddenly and turned around to face two girls in particular, both of whom held one of those devices as they talked with one another.

"There's a path north from the town, did you see?" the blond asked.

"Yeah, but there's a Sleephant in the way and I can't wake it up until I have a Ratchet. Trade me one?" the red haired girl with glasses asked in reply.

"What? Wait, the Summon version doesn't have wild Ratchets, does it?" the blond blinked, eyes still on her device.

"Nope. I don't think Support has it, either. So, trade me one?" the red haired girl asked again.

The blond groaned. "Really? Now I have to go all the way back to my hometown to capture another one! And unlike you, I don't have an Eaglet to fly me back there!"

"...Magic doesn't have an _Eaglet_?" the red haired girl gaped. "I though _all_ the—"

"Girls," Tseng cut in with a sigh, making them look up at him in surprise.

Then, they both grinned brightly and said, "Hi, Tseng!" The blond added, "What can we do for you?"

"These two are Alphonse Elric and Mei Chang. Both are Academy students, and Mei is also my ward until further notice. Since I noticed you and Alphonse have some classes in common, I suppose it's lucky we met you, first," Tseng said, then looked at the blond boy and Wutain girl with him. "Alphonse, Mei, these two ladies are Elena Emerio and Shalua Rui." He paused to look around at their surroundings, noting the stares he was getting. "Let's go find a table to sit at."

"Sure. Our usual table will still be free," Shalua agreed, walking past him to lead the way to it. "And Elena, I still need a Ratchet to go further north to link in to help you against Team Makonoid."

"Yeah, yeah, I'll get you one. If none of the others already has one," Elena agreed with an irritated frown.

Mei and Al traded looks which clearly asked, "What in the _world_ are they _talking_ about?"

Soon after, they were sitting at a table to one side of the room and at the back of it, essentially out of the way, food retrieved so they could eat. Elena put her device away and parked herself beside Tseng as soon as she sat down, pelting him with questions about refining her skills to join the Turks. Shalua kept hers out longer, but then put it away and turned to Al and Mei to discuss school and classes with them.

Things were quiet like that for—about five minutes, until a black haired, Wutain, nine-year-old girl shouted cheerfully, "Inflammie, I choose you! Let's get her Squirlop down!" Several giggles were roused from surrounding tables at the words.

Another girl answered in a dry tone, "That won't work...Squirlops negate elemental damage, that's their special ability."

"Oh, for crying out loud..." Shalua sighed. "I should never have gotten Shelke one of those things. Now she goes around challenging everyone—because she knows she'll win, damned hacker..."

"Uh..." Al and Mei both began as they traded completely confused looks.

"Aw..." the first girl began in a pouting tone, then perked up and said, "Okay, Inflammie, return! Your turn, Torterra! Ram attack that stupid thing!" Al and Mei actually looked over at her and the girl with her, noticing they were getting closer to their table as they each held one of those strange devices in their hands. The other girl was red haired and looked similar to Shalua.

" _That_ won't work, either," the red haired girl replied, that time in amusement.

"Ha? Five points of damage? Why is it so low?" the Wutain girl gasped in shock.

The red haired girl sat down beside Shalua as she said, "Because my Squirlop is level fifty, and all of your Battle Pets are level five, Yufi. You need to level them up before you try holding matches with almost anyone at school."

"That's not fair!" Yufi wailed, plopping down in the seat to Shalua's other side as she dropped both her head and the device in her hands onto the table.

"Shelke, stop challenging people you know can't beat you. It's rude, and all it proves is that you're turning into a coward," Shalua told the red haired girl beside her.

"Uh—Yufi challenged me, I didn't challenge her. I wasn't even going to, I was actually going to trade her one of my Skipjacks, but then she..." Shelke began with an amused grin, then held her device lovingly to her chest as she said, "Good job, Squirlop. Return. You've earned a long rest."

Shalua heaved an exasperated sigh and said, "And stop talking to the damned things like they can hear you—they can't! They're just _video game characters_ , not _living things_!"

"Uh..." Shelke blinked. She then looked up at Shalua and said, "I have SND, remember? I reprogrammed them for voice activation and to have personalities. Well, I've done Katri, Meera, Victor, and Koru. I still have to do Mami and Heron. I gave Yufi's voice activation this morning because she's not calm enough to quietly tap buttons." She tucked her device away as she said the last.

"Yeah, that's boring! I like shouting out my attacks better!" Yufi agreed cheerfully, sitting up and putting her device away so she could eat. "I hope Illis really will make next class better, though..." she suddenly pouted. "It had better be worth skipping time I could use to explore!"

"By the way, do either of you have a spare Ratchet for Shalua?" Elena cut in.

"A _spare_?" Shelke blinked in surprise. "I have Support, so I don't have one, either."

"Hey, you're good—I have Independent, so there's, like, a million of them, and I have five because I was bored," Yufi answered. "I'll trade two to Shelke—but I get a Majordomo for one of them!—and Shelke can trade one to Shalua."

"A Major—Shelke, where in the world did you get one of _those_?" Shalua asked her sister sharply.

"Out of a fossil," Shelke shrugged. "And I lucked out that it was female, so I started breeding them. You guys can all have one—I've got about ten females now."

"Oh, Shelke," a new voice said sweetly from behind the younger red haired girl. "I want a rematch, your Majordomo—what did you call it? Mami?—against my Frenzy." The others looked up to see a thirteen-year-old with brown hair behind the girl—and a moment later, she plopped down on the seat beside the younger girl.

"Tifa, she's a hacker. You're never going to win," Shalua put in, her tone flat.

"Hey, I haven't changed my Battle Pets' specs!" Shelke glared. "And last time, Tifa _did_ almost take me down. I promised not to level Mami until her Frenzy was the same level, though, so we could have a completely 'fair' match. If pitting a Frenzy against a Majordomo at level can be called 'fair' when Frenzies have the advantage by type."

"So, we'll do that after class today, then, right?" the brown haired girl, Tifa, asked.

"Yeah, sure," Shelke agreed. "Can I eat now, please?"

"No! I want another match!" Yufi announced, pushing herself partway up again.

That time, Tseng cut in to say, "All of you, sit down, be quiet for five minutes, and eat. You'll have plenty of time later to keep playing your games."

"Awww..." Yufi pouted again, sitting back down.

Al and Mei traded half-horrified, half-puzzled looks as they silently prayed Ed got there soon.


	11. 08-Shopping Trip

**A/N:** Major Miles will now be known almost exclusively as Kamil.

Shopping Trip

Soon after, Eden had led the way to Genesis' office on floor fifty-one and knocked on the door. It was opened a moment later—by Angeal, who blinked, then gave a wry smile and invited, "Come on in." Ed stepped into the office with Al, Mei, and Freyra following him, only to see Genesis and Sephiroth at the red haired man's desk with many sheets of paper in their hands and Zack sitting on top of a waist-high shelf to one side of the room with a glowing, green Materia in his hand and his eyes closed.

"What are you doing _now_ , Zack?" Eden asked dryly, remembering what the Leviathan Materia had looked like when Zack had been pushing energy into it on the Highwind.

Zack's lips quirked in amusement as he replied absently, "Trying to Master a second Shield so Shelke can have hers back, you can have a Mastered one, and I still have one to use to produce more."

"And he still wants to Master some Contains, Destructs, and Ultimas, on top of that," Genesis added as Sephiroth passed him the papers he'd been carrying and the red haired man incinerated the whole stack. "He just wants Shelke's greatest protection back to her as quickly as possible, so he started with that. What did you need, Eden?" At the question, Genesis' Mako-blue eyes moved to the Turk curiously with a grin.

"Would you happen to know where a couple of civilians can get some PHS's?" the blond Turk asked in reply. "I never had one besides the one the Turks gave me, but I can't give one of those to Al or Mei."

The question caused Sephiroth to look confused, Zack's lips to quirk into an amused smile again, and Genesis and Angeal to stare in surprise for a moment before both men burst out laughing. It was Angeal who said, "That's right, you've never had much chance to look around the Shinra building, let alone the city Sectors, because you can buy them right here."

Genesis threw in, "You can probably get them cheaper at a shop in one of the Sectors, though. Also, the new PHS's in the shop on the second floor are—more complicated than I think you want for people who have never had one before."

"Done!" Zack suddenly exhaled, making everyone look at him as the glowing Materia gave a small flash and a second orb appeared next to the first. As it began falling, his free hand shot out and snatched the new one out of the air, then he looked up at Eden with a grin. "That's the new one I'm going to use to produce a few more, and this one would be yours. Since Genesis already has Shelke's original, we're set now and I can start on the next one. It takes longer with ones which you can't even use until they've grown a level, about three hours instead of two. Oh, and I produced a couple Leviathans besides the one to go back to the Emperor, one Yufi hijacked which is with Tseng now I think, one for you, and one I'm keeping to produce more." He then tossed the Materia he'd been working on to Eden, who caught it easily and put it in his pocket, then pulled a red orb from his pocket and tossed that to Eden, too. It registered as Leviathan when he touched it.

"Thanks. It'll be good to see what Contain and Destruct actually do, since I haven't gotten my hands on copies of those yet," Eden agreed, then looked back at Genesis. "So, where in the city do we buy some PHS's?"

With a wry look, Genesis said, "I can't leave here until the other five come calling. Angeal also has to stay here, and Sephiroth doesn't know any more than _you_ do. Besides, Zack would probably be the better one to look around for one with, since he and other—newer SOLDIERs frequently go into town to shop and explore."

Turning his head to regard the black haired teen, who was regarding him with equal curiosity, the blond found himself suddenly amused. "Sure, if you're game, Zack?"

"Sure!" the black haired teen grinned. "Like I said, I'm done with Shield for the moment, so there's nothing pressing I have to do. Wall Market is the place to start for variety, cost—and oddly enough, quality. There are two shops which have Plate quality rather than crap, and they get the most business, so they're in no danger of crashing and suddenly not being there anymore."

"Before you go, could you introduce us properly, Eden?" Angeal asked in a dry tone. "We know Freyra, but not the other two." Genesis gave a snort at the words.

"The blond is Alphonse Elric, and the girl is Mei Chang," Ed agreed readily. "And Al and Mei, meet Commander Angeal Hewley, General Sephiroth, and SOLDIER First Class Zack Fair. You already met Genesis." At the names of the SOLDIERs, the blond Turk motioned at each to indicate who they were.

"Sephiroth who?" Al asked in confusion, producing a snort from Freyra.

The silver haired man replied, "I have never been told a name besides Sephiroth, and everyone knows me solely by that name. Well, other than those who refer to me as 'Subject S'. Such is the result of being an experimental subject raised in the Shinra Labs and combat facilities."

The younger blond's eyes widened before he said quickly, "Sorry!"

"It is no secret," Sephiroth replied, brow raised slightly. "You have no need to apologize."

"So, are we ready to go check with Reeve, then head out to shop?" Freyra asked dryly after a momentary pause.

"Why do you need to check with Reeve?" Angeal asked curiously.

"Winry is with him, but we don't know what she's actually going to do for a place to live, and we need to figure that out before she has to find a place to sleep for the night," Eden replied. "It shouldn't take long."

"She'll probably be fine with the Shinra facilities for a few days, since there's a literal floor with short-term bedrooms for employees to use for 'short' rests while working on project deadlines," Genesis said in a dry tone. "Some people use them for over a week at a time."

"...So if she's actually already working on something for him, she's fine?" Eden asked with a blink.

"Pretty much. All she'll really need is a change of clothes so the floor custodians can wash whichever one she's not wearing while she's sleeping," Genesis agreed.

"We'll go talk with her about that, then, just to make sure of how she's set," the blond Turk agreed, then gave a wave to the three older men and said, "Let's go, Zack," to the younger. As the black haired teen jumped up to follow the Turks and civilians from the room, Eden said, "Thanks, guys, and I'll see you later!"

The parting words were returned in mild amusement as the five left to head up to Reeve's office. When they got to the room in question, Reeve was working on a device on his still-scorched desk while Winry had been given a bench to the side of the room to use to—pull Cait Sith apart. The cat's tail was twitching, showing that he was still active and aware, but he had gone quiet and a good portion of his mechanical guts had been taken out of his body without being disconnected from one another.

"That looks creepy," Al said as he stared at Winry and her work on the robotic cat. Zack covered his mouth with his hand to keep from laughing.

Reeve looked up at the words and gave a smile as he asked, "What can I help you with, Eden?"

"Hey Ed! Hi Al!" Winry called over her shoulder, not looking up from what she was doing.

"Don't forget Mei," the blond Turk answered dryly.

Winry gave a small chuckle. "Hi there, Mei," the blond girl said.

"What are you doing to that cat?" the girl asked in something like horror.

"It's mechanical, and as long as I don't disconnect the parts, this doesn't hurt it," Winry answered. "But I really want to know how it works, because this _robot_ can _feel_ touch, something which would be good to further develop auto-mail. My next job is to work with someone named Shalua to make another leg for Ed."

Both Al's and Mei's jaws dropped, so Eden just looked amused as he looked back at Reeve and said, "We just wanted to check on how she's set for a place to sleep for a couple days until we find her a place to live. She and one of our kids can probably share a two-bedroom apartment if one's available at Shalua's building, but we don't know that yet."

"There are rooms here she can use for as long as she needs or wants them," Reeve answered. "But with her current work, she's probably not actually going to be going to one of them tonight, regardless. Winry, do you have any changes of clothes on you?"

"No. The clothes I had brought got hijacked a couple weeks ago. Al's got hijacked, too." At the words, Ed looked at his brother with a raised brow (apparently, they'd have to buy some clothes while they were out, too, the older brother realized), making Al blush for a moment, but then Winry said, "I should probably have two changes of clothes, work and casual, and the brothers know what kinds I like for style." She paused for a moment before frowning and saying, "But them getting the right size will be a shot in the dark, I guess." She then went right back to work like it didn't matter that much to her.

"Don't worry, Mei and I can help make sure they get the right size or close to it," Freyra said in amusement, making Winry turn her head enough to see the woman. "And I can get you some feminine things. How are you set for your monthly issue?"

"I'm not due to start for at least another week," the younger woman answered, her tone amused. "Maybe something as a precaution, but I need to choose most of that for myself, anyway."

"Okay, good enough," the brown haired woman grinned. "My name's Freyra, by the way. Did Reeve already give you a PHS so you can add my number to it?"

"Yeah, he gave me one," she agreed. "I haven't looked at it much yet, though. By the way, who's that black haired guy with you?"

"His name's Zack Fair, SOLDIER First Class," Eden told her, then said to Zack and Freyra, "She's Winry Rockbell, by the way."

"Great," Freyra agreed, then looked at Winry to say, "Let me have your PHS for a few minutes so Eden and I can add our numbers, Winry."

Winry pulled the device from her pocket and let the older woman take it. It was the work of a couple minutes for both numbers to be added and the PHS returned to her, even as Freyra added the number for the blond's PHS to her phone and passed it on to Eden, too. Winry had been working on Cait Sith the whole time.

"I suppose that means I'll be seeing you one more time today, then?" Reeve asked in mild amusement as Winry waved them away.

"Yeah," Eden agreed. "Too bad it's basically all for work."

"Too bad indeed," the man agreed with a smile. "Have a good trip out into the city, then, and I'll see you later."

"Bye!" the others all responded, though Freyra just gave him a grin and wave, then the five bound for the city left.

Zack, Freyra, and Eden led the way to the train station in Sector 1, where they took the train down to the Sector 7 Slums. For the first time, Eden was seeing the progress Rufus had made on cleaning up the Slums of the trash heaps, and he was actually quite impressed, because the train graveyard was no more and most of the trash heaps around the central support pillar were gone in all eight Sectors. Further out and in the areas of no man's land between the Slum Sectors, the trash was still as bad, but there had already been an improvement. When he'd gone there with Tseng to visit 7th Heaven, the clearing hadn't reached Sector 7 yet, he supposed, so it hadn't looked any different then.

"Rufus has been cleaning things up well," he commented to Zack, who was sitting beside him on the train.

"You mean the 'mysterious businessman' Kunzel told me about is actually the President's son?" Zack asked in mild surprise.

"Sure is," Eden agreed.

"He's a philanthropist, then?" Al asked from across the aisle.

"Not really, he just doesn't want the world—and himself—destroyed because of people's misery and suffering," the blond Turk answered in amusement. "The result is the same, but the motive leaves something to be desired. At least his priorities are straight enough for his sense of self-preservation to kick in and override his childishness." The words made Al fall silent again.

Soon after, they had gotten off the train in Sector 7, passed by the 'park' between the Sector 7 and Sector 6 Slums, and headed into Sector 6, where Wall Market was. Zack led the way to one shop as everyone swerved to go around the two Turks, the SOLDIER First, and the two civilians with them, really not wanting to get in the path of a group like that. Freyra gave a chuckle at the people's behavior while Al and Mei watched the situation in confusion before looking to Ed for an explanation.

"People in the Slums don't generally want to attract the attention of SOLDIERs and Turks, since they know we're the only real 'police' here. Of course, them behaving _that_ way attracts attention by default, so..." Eden explained dryly. "We can move around here without them seeing us, even in uniform, though."

"'We' who?" Al asked with a small frown.

"You can? You _so_ have to teach me that!" Zack said over his shoulder with a grin from the front of the group.

"Sorry, it's a required and exclusive Turk skill—Puppy," Freyra chirped.

"Aw, come on, not you, too..." Zack whined, then gave a chuckle as she laughed.

"Um...what just happened?" Mei asked in confusion, looking between Freyra and Zack with a puzzled expression.

"Angeal nicknamed me 'Puppy', and now almost everyone _else_ calls me that, too," the black haired sixteen-year-old sighed. "Even though my focus and attention span is way better now."

"But you ruin it by laughing afterwards," the blond Turk threw in. "Is there anything you actually _don't_ want to be called, rather than things you have 'less of a preference for, but don't actually care about being called'?"

At his dry tone, Zack immediately answered, "I loath being called Zachary, actually. It's my birth name, but I never liked it, so I signed my papers to join Shinra with just 'Zack'. Even everyone from my hometown called me just Zack by the time I left, but that probably has to do with me—retaliating every time they called me Zachary."

"Huh," the blond Turk blinked as they stepped into the shop Zack had apparently been leading them to.

"Here we are," Zack said as he faced Al and Mei. "They have different styles and colors, but if you're going for simple functionality, you'll want the ones at the front left to start. Mostly, those will let you make calls, take and send pictures, and send text messages, but they don't have many functions besides those. Maybe an alarm and a date and time setting, things like that, but nothing like video or games or any—"

"Zack, that's good enough," Ed told him dryly, then gave a startled Al and Mei a bit of a push in the direction the black haired sixteen-year-old had indicated.

Before they'd taken two steps, he heard a delighted, "Eden!" and found his arms full of brown haired girl in a white and blue dress with a white ribbon in her hair. The other four gaped at him in shock as he realized who it was and returned her greeting hug.

After a moment, he asked her, "So, how are you doing?"

"Fine, great actually!" she replied cheerfully, finally letting go of him and taking a step back. Her green eyes sparkled as she asked, "So, do you know yet?"

"No, five still haven't arrived to make a decision," he answered in wry amusement.

"Um, Eden, isn't she one of Hojo's...?" Freyra asked with a puzzled expression.

He looked at her, then at a glaring Shears just past her, then returned his gaze to Freyra to say, "You're better off _not_ suggesting you take her back to Shinra. Besides, haven't we already established the fact that Hojo's a sadist and we don't actually _want_ to give him experimental subjects—especially not little girls?"

"Wait, is she the one you meant when you said Turks had connections to little girls in the slums?" Al asked suddenly in realization, expression shocked. When Ed met his gaze in amusement, the fifteen-year-old rubbed his forehead and said tiredly, "Eden, does that mean your boss is completely ignoring her, despite orders? I mean, he warned you to be careful of your words that time."

"And Genesis was more interested in the 'dog' than in the 'little girls in the slums'," Eden 'agreed' dryly. His gaze then went to Freyra as he said, "Meet Tseng's sister in all but blood, Aeris. He's not actually going to let you take her in, and if you tried—things wouldn't go well."

Freyra's gaze went questioningly to Zack, who held his hands up in surrender position as he said, "Don't look at me. I _saw_ what Hojo did to Sephiroth and Genesis, and I wouldn't put _anyone_ in his hands after seeing that."

The Lady Turk then whipped around and drew her shotgun at the same time to shove it under Shears' chin as she said threateningly with a glare, "If you thought I didn't know you were there..."

His gaze was completely even as he replied, "Leave Aeris alone and it doesn't actually matter to me what you do."

Aeris reached up to scratch the side of her head as she asked in confusion, "Eden, why do I feel like I just missed something?"

"Probably because you don't know all the history behind this," Eden replied dryly as the Lady Turk and Gaia's Refuge's top strategist entered a stale-mate of a staring match. "You _do_ realize you're pointing a gun at the second-in-command of Gaia's Refuge, right, Freyra?"

She suddenly threw her hands up in exasperation with a frustrated sigh, then began laughing as she put her shotgun away. Shears actually gave her a curious look as the others stared in complete confusion and the blond Turk raised a brow, and it was only when she stopped laughing that she shook her head and said, "You really _are_ trying to throw everything into chaos, aren't you, Eden?"

"Not really. I just have a different definition of who's an enemy and who's an ally than you do," he told her dryly.

"And Tseng should probably have warned us that the bond ran deeper than just us having acquired a new, autonomous group to help us out," Freyra told him dryly, lips quirked in a small smile. "He never told us who they used to be." She then looked at Shears and said, "But next time, don't make like you're sneaking up on me, or I might just shoot you before I realize who you are."

"And your plans regarding Aeris?" the man asked with a small frown.

"Plans? What plans? What makes you think I actually intended to do anything with her at all? Mainly, I just wanted to verify who was apparently so familiar with Eden when he's had next to no time to look around and meet people," Freyra replied dryly. "But if it was through Tseng, that makes a lot of sense."

"Eden, are you really systematically making the Turks into my protectors?" Aeris asked suddenly, looking amused.

"Apparently," he agreed dryly. "Not really intentionally, though. Why are you asking?"

"Ruluf came to check on me the other day—just the way Tseng or Shears does. I've never had another Turk do that before, except you since my brother introduced us," the brown haired girl replied, gaze still amused.

Shears sighed, Freyra stared in amazement, Zack laughed, Eden looked amused, and Al and Mei just looked more confused. The blond Turk told Aeris, "When I told him you'd be better off with Corneo than Hojo, he said he disagreed with the sentiment about who was 'better', since neither was, and that he'd pretend he hadn't seen you. I had no idea he'd start checking up on you."

"Why didn't you tell me or Felicia about Ruluf's visit?" Shears asked the girl tiredly.

"Because nothing felt wrong, so it wasn't actually important," Aeris replied dryly.

"...Nothing 'felt' wrong?" Al echoed in confusion.

"Nothing feels wrong now, either," she directed at Shears. "So, no one here right now actually means to hurt me or turn me over to Hojo, otherwise I wouldn't have been so—careless in greeting Eden back from Wutai." He just sighed.

"Why are you here, anyway, Aeris?" the blond Turk asked her as he waved a hand around at the shop they were in.

"Felicia and Shears are really thinking about getting me a PHS for emergencies, so he thought I should look at some of them and give him some idea of what I'd be looking at," the fifteen-year-old girl explained. "Who are the others here with you?"

Eden took a moment to introduce both groups to one another properly, then to tell her and Shears what they were doing there. At that point, Freyra, Al, and Mei moved over to the far side of the shop to look at the simplest models there while Aeris returned to where she'd been at the front, right-hand side of the shop. It didn't take long for Zack to gravitate to her so they could talk while Shears and Eden watched them in mild amusement, seeing how the pair were actually attracted to one another. (1) They could hear the soft discussion Zack and Aeris had while she was studying the PHS's on the shelves there.

"Did you need help finding one you like?" Zack asked her as he joined her.

"Oh, no, I have a pretty good idea now and I'm just looking for a color or pattern I like," Aeris answered. "Thank you, though."

"Well, did you know they sometimes put other kinds of covers behind the top one—just like this?" he asked as he reached past her to pull a PHS cover off the shelf and point in behind it.

"Oh! Wow, thank you!" she smiled happily as she began searching for other ones behind the ones on the top. She was quiet for a minute as Zack watched her with a grin after replacing the cover he'd taken off the shelf—until she suddenly spun to face him. She searched his eyes for a moment before saying so softly Shears and Eden almost missed it, "I always thought SOLDIERs were scary with their Mako enhancements, but...your eyes are just like the sky outside Midgar..."

He gave her a smile and asked, "Does that mean you don't think I'm scary?" She just smiled and turned back to her examination of the PHS covers.

"I hope that boy doesn't do anything stupid now that he's got a crush on one of Shin-Ra's targets," Shears commented softly to the Turk beside him.

"Who, Zack? Nah, he's as good as his word, and even when his attention span is about five seconds long, he's far from stupid. He also doesn't seem to change his general behavior much, regardless of what's going on around him, so I doubt he'd be stupid enough to give anyone something to track."

"...I hope so. Let him know we'll be discreetly keeping an eye on the two of them if he intends to keep meeting with her, though," the man answered quietly.

"Tell him yourself," the blond answered with a snort.

 **Notes:**

(1) This Aeris/Zack thing isn't because of 'Aeris being nothing without Zack' like some people who are familiar with FFVII think (someone writing another fanfic blatantly said they weren't going to give Aeris a boyfriend at all for this reason). I do think this pairing works and is really cute, when normally I don't like pre-set pairings in animes/mangas/games, but this has a deeper purpose in this story. Both of them (Zack and Aeris) are going to be/come independently powerful as this progresses. However, after assessing every single available character, I realized one 'solution' that's going to happen in both paths of the story will REQUIRE the basic personalities of these two to work. That will take some time to come up, however, and I don't want to spoil the surprise. :D


	12. 09-Origins

**A/N:** Sorry about some repetitive data here, but now the data is being reassessed with new information thrown in. And it has to be done or there WILL be problems and confusion later. This is currently still the same day, the day just after Ed got back from Wutai.

Origins

Soon after, Al and Mei had chosen PHS's and the whole group, including Shears and Aeris (who had also gotten a PHS and a floral cover for it), left the shop. Aeris immediately spun to face _Zack_ —not Shears or Eden—and said, "We're passing by the Church on the way back to my place, so we need to stop so I can take care of the flowers."

Shears held his hand to his suddenly aching head as Eden snorted and Zack asked in surprise, "Flowers in the Slums?"

"Yup!" the brown haired girl agreed cheerfully.

"We need to get Winry—and Al—some clothes, first. Theirs were stolen," Eden told Aeris dryly. "Winry's another of my friends from home, but she's working right now."

"That's okay," the girl agreed. "But actually, Mom makes clothes and we always have extra, so Al and Winry can have some of those. If that won't work, Shears and Zack can come with me while you shop."

That time, it was Eden's turn to hold a hand to his head, which produced a snort from Shears. The blond Turk said, "Aeris, why don't you just come out and say you have a crush on Zack and want him to walk you home?"

Everyone gaped at him when he said that, then Freyra burst out laughing and said, "Yes, that would simplify matters. The question is, do you think Aeris' mother would have made clothes Winry—and Al, for that matter—might like to wear, and in her size?"

"For work, no, but for daily wear, probably—she and Aeris are about the same height, aren't they?" Eden asked. The older Turk gave a nod. "Her work outfits run along the lines of what you saw her wearing, but she wanted at least one outfit which was for relaxing or sleeping in."

"I'll stop by a shop where I know I can get some 'work' clothes in her style and the rest of you can go with Aeris. I'll meet you around the area of the Church on your way back through," Freyra said. "I have to get her some other things, anyway, and I'm pretty sure you boys won't want to be around for that."

"What do you think, Al?" Eden asked curiously. "You'll really get to see healthy flowers growing in this place if you come along to Aeris'."

"Okay, sure, but won't that sort of ruin her 'date' with Zack?" the younger blond asked uncertainly.

"Kid, Aeris isn't that easily put out, nor is she the sort to get all touchy-feely, anyway," Shears said. "Her only exceptions are Tseng and Eden, them because she's firmly allocated them as 'brothers'. You won't be interfering with anything."

"...Oh," Al said, sounding a little tired.

"I'd like to see the flowers, too!" Mei put in suddenly with a smile at Aeris.

"Of course," Aeris agreed with a happy smile at the younger, 'Wutain' girl. "There are a lot of them at the Church and my home."

"When are you expecting Felicia and Mick back, by the way, Shears?" Eden suddenly asked the older man as Freyra gave a wave and parted ways with them when they reached no man's land between Sectors 6 and 5.

"They stopped at the factory Rufus was turning over to us, so she'll still be a bit," the man answered. "I can give her a call to let her know where we're headed if you need?"

"No, just making sure you won't be missing a meeting with them," the Turk replied in amusement.

"Here we are!" Aeris announced happily as they got to the dilapidated Church and she beckoned Zack, Al, and Mei to follow her inside.

Before stepping inside, however, Al looked up at what was above the Church and asked with a frown, "What's that thing right above it?"

Aeris stopped in the door and asked, "You noticed the Church is pretty much backed against a pillar, right? That's the support post for the Sector 5 Mako Reactor." She pointed straight up at the green smoke-spewing structure above them and said, "And that is the power supply for Sector 5—the Reactor. Of course, all the holes in the Reactor design are the reason a little sunlight reaches this area, but it doesn't help inside the Church." The fifteen-year-old girl then disappeared into the building as Al and Mei stared at her in shock for a moment before almost bolting inside, followed by Zack.

By the time Shears and Eden had joined them, Aeris was already watering and humming to the plants with Mei beside her as the younger girl smiled and followed the older's example. Al had sat down on the broken edge of the floor around the flower-filled hole and was peering thoughtfully down at the assortment of mainly yellow and white flowers, apparently pondering something deeply. Zack, on the other hand, was standing near Aeris, his arms crossed as he gazed around at the building, the flowers, and the two girls.

Suddenly, Zack said, "You should sell them on the Upper Plate. They'd be really popular, I bet. You don't see real flowers much in this city."

Aeris turned her head to look at him as she stopped humming, asking, "What are you talking about?"

"These flowers. When they get overgrown like now, take some of them, put them in a basket or cart, and take them up to the Upper Plate to sell them to people," the black haired sixteen-year-old explained. "I'll even help make you one, and do the lifting for you if you let me know when you want to go up to the Plate."

The brown haired girl looked amused as she said, "That would be a fantastic way to draw attention to me."

"People sell flowers during the Tree Lighting, but you could sell them all the time. It wouldn't draw attention to you."

"...I don't know..."

"I know no one in SOLDIER knows anything about you, so they aren't looking, and the Turks will pretty much ignore you with Eden and Tseng both protecting you, so you're in more danger from terrorists like Fuhito than from Shinra."

"Who's Fuhito?"

"I mentioned him before when I told you Shears and Felicia were trust-worthy, but he wasn't. He's on the top of the entire world's hit list because he's psychotic and _wants_ to slaughter everyone on the Planet," Eden called over to her, his hands in his pockets as he and Shears joined them. Al and Mei looked up at them in surprise. "Whether he'll ever actually endanger you is debatable, but no one knows anything about him having a vendetta against anyone but me."

"Isn't that dangerous, Eden?" she asked worriedly.

"It's being taken care of," Shears replied dryly. "We already know Tseng isn't going to put him in danger carelessly."

"Weren't you the one who wanted to hit him the whole time we were at 7th Heaven?" Eden asked the older man in amusement.

"The bar 7th Heaven?" Zack asked eagerly with a grin.

"Until I saw him drunk off his ass and trying to figure out what he was going to do with you and Aeris while the pair of you were happily sleeping away at the table," Shears shrugged, ignoring the black haired teen. "That guy surprised me, he really did. Never thought Turks had any honor until then—you were the exception, not the rule."

"Hey! Don't ignore me!" Zack whined.

Shears snorted and Eden asked in amusement, "You go drinking, Zack?"

"No—well, sometimes, not heavily, though—but I helped the owner come up with the name of his new bar several months ago," the black haired teen answered, looking amused. "I went there once and he gave me a light ale on the house for helping him with the name. Not that it really matters because Mako pretty much keeps SOLDIERs from getting drunk, no matter how much we drink. But I really feel like I'm missing something if anyone from Gaia's Refuge ever wanted to hit Tseng when you guys are on the best terms with the Turks."

Aeris began giggling into her hand as Eden and Shears both looked at the SOLDIER in amusement. It was Al who decided to remind them of his presence as he asked, "Brother, exactly _how_ many twists and turns are there in this mess?"

"More than you need to know, Al, and you _really have_ to stop calling me 'Brother' in public places," Eden replied. At his brother's frown, he said, "Look, I already explained why you shouldn't call me that, and I'm not hiding things from you for the sake of it. You're literally safer if you don't know these details. You, too, Zack."

"But it's okay for Aeris to know?" Al asked sharply.

"Er—I'm sort of the reason for this part, so I have no choice but to know," Aeris told the younger blond. "I don't think they'd be working together now if they both weren't determined to protect me...and Eden, too, I guess."

"I'm not protecting any Turk—they can take care of themselves," Sheers sneered. "Anyway, that's their boss' job."

"Uh huh," Eden chuckled. "Did Felicia tell you she jumped in the way of Fuhito's laser gun and took the shot meant for me?"

The older man and Aeris both stared at him in shocked horror before the man asked in a strained tone, "When did that happen?"

"In Wutai," he replied dryly. "And I saw red and got my first Limit Break, though it was supported by my—passenger. I'm glad, because it saved her and—well, Fuhito got away, but at least it forced him to run and did him some damage."

"Eden, do try to stay out of trouble..." Shears scowled. "And don't drag Felicia into it with you from now on."

Al gave a snort and a chuckle as he said, "That's asking the impossible, Shears. Even when Ed was _four_ , he couldn't stay out of trouble—it has a habit of finding him if he tries to avoid it. And pretty much everyone he 'drags into it' is either the reason he winds up in trouble or a willing participant in said trouble."

Everyone gazed at him silently for a minute before Shears and Aeris gave heart-felt sighs and she turned back to the plants.

Zack gave a scowling Eden a grin and said, "It's okay, Eden. Some of us _like_ that habit of yours, since it keeps us guessing. One—unrelated—question, though."

"That is?" the blond Turk asked with a raised brow.

"If Aeris has allocated you and Tseng as brothers, what does that make you and Tseng? I mean, he sure doesn't treat you like a brother..." the black haired SOLDIER pointed out, gaze curious.

"No clue," Eden replied. "I don't think we've defined what we _are_ , only what we aren't, and we never viewed each other as any sort of family, even though Turks live by the motto 'Turks are family.' And sometimes, I'm not sure if he's taunting me or protecting me, but then he flies off the handle if I can't answer my phone because I'm sleeping off the whole eight-Summons-at-once Limit Break that saved Felicia's life, so..."

"Eight Summons at once?" Zack, Shears, and Aeris gasped, turning to stare at him with wide eyes.

"What are Summons?" Al and Mei asked at the same time, making the others blink. "And what's a Limit Break?" Al added.

With a sigh, the blond sixteen-year-old answered, "Limit Breaks are an effect which is sort of like adrenaline on steroids and gives a boost of strength, speed, and battle clarity for a few minutes. For some people, though, it also gives them a special, high-powered attack, effect, or healing skill which they couldn't use in normal circumstances. In that case, the Limit Break didn't fully come from me, it actually came from a—Summon of a sort who got angry because Felicia is 'special' to it. It used me to channel its Limit Break, hence the exhaustion, but my own would have been a variant of my usual stone spikes which wouldn't have used the arrays to activate.

"As for Summons, there are red Materia shards which are called 'Summon Materia'—yes, like the one Zack tossed to me earlier. They have spirit entities attached to them which people can call to for assistance, which gives those spirits a temporarily tangible form. Normally, that's for battle, but it's not the only way or time we can call them to lend a hand—we can even just call them to talk with them if we want. I've collected—twelve now, two I gave to Genesis and eight of them slotted in my gear. Those eight were the ones who activated with that—I think it called itself 'Ark of the Eidolons'. Anyway, here. Carbuncle, come out and visit!"

As he motioned with his hand, the small, cat-rabbit-fox-squirrel-like creature in an almost aquamarine color appeared in front of him and began hopping around excitedly as it said, " _Yay, you're okay! Ooooo, flowers! Can I have one? There are lots of people here. Who are they? Where's the man who Summoned me before, the one with the stone on his forehead? Where—_ " There was a red gem on its forehead which shimmered a bit as it hopped easily through the flower patch, around the hole, and across most of the pews in a few moments, and its long ears had a somewhat wing-like appearance to them as they trailed down its back.

"Carbuncle, be quiet," Eden cut in to its questions with a sigh, and the creature stopped talking to look at him curiously, hopping up and down in place on the back of one pew. "I can only answer one question at a time, you know. And now I know why Tseng didn't want to call this critter while I was in the hospital with a breathing mask on."

Shears snorted and said, "Yeah, if that's its usual behavior, it wouldn't have helped you recover just by running you ragged with its energy level."

Al and Mei both got up to look at the creature in curiosity, but while Mei gave a happy squeal after a moment and reached out to hug Carbuncle as she said, "It's sooo cuuuute!", the blond fifteen-year-old looked more thoughtful than happy.

Finally, while Carbuncle and Mei were cuddling each other, the younger brother faced Eden to ask, "Really? You're okay with trapped spirits after everything with Father and the Philosopher's Stone?"

" _Trapped_?" Eden asked with a raised brow. "According to them, they _chose_ to merge with a Materia shard when Minerva, this world's sentience, asked them to. They're basically fragments of the Lifestream, or the 'veins of the dragon', which severed from it in order to merge with forming Materia to create the Summon form. Their souls come from the same place everyone's on the Planet do—the Lifestream—so it's really no different from the souls attached to our bodies, like Zack's or Aeris'. And there's nothing malignant about them or the Lifestream—Mako, or liquid Lifestream, itself has a sense of loving warmth, not coldness, hatred, despair, pain. I agree with this _because_ it's so completely opposite Father and the Philosopher's Stone, and because this is their way, and Minerva's way, of communicating with people. Otherwise, she's only got Aeris for that."

" _True!_ " Carbuncle agreed happily from Mei's arms.

The others watched the exchange curiously as Al assessed the words, then frowned slightly to ask, "Does that mean there are transmutation arrays fixed in everyone's bodies to hold their souls in place?"

It was the Turk's turn to think about the question before he mused, "Everything here is effectively composed purely of compressed energy, and something needs to anchor both the form and the energy. Materia are solidified Mako, which is the same thing as the Lifestream but compressed enough to solidify, so logically, the same properties would apply to us, and the only real difference is in the actual 'form' our energy takes. In that sense, I'd have to say there probably are arrays imprinted inside everyone's bodies, too, and that would _include_ us, otherwise we wouldn't actually be able to survive here due to exceptionally high doses of Mako poisoning."

"Why would you randomly get Mako poisoning from being anywhere at large?" Shears asked with a puzzled frown. "You'd usually have to be pumped full of the stuff or fall in a Mako Spring to get a lethal level of poisoning in the _first_ place."

"Since when is Eden 'usual'?" Aeris asked dryly, and Shears had to sigh at that. She then looked at the blond in the black suit and asked, "But how is it you could be a Sentinel if you're actually—not from this world at all, and Sentinels are a branch of the Cetra?"

At the girl's question, everyone's jaws dropped except for Eden's (1), whose brow rose as he met her even, green gaze. "You're awfully calm about this," he commented to her.

"You don't slip up like that unless you _mean_ to, just like _all_ the Turks," she replied. "You had to tell the Turks, so you're bringing in others you trust, especially if they're going to have to deal with the others who are from your world. Also, this wouldn't be the first time people have come here from another world. 'Humans' are largely a mix of the Cetra and another race that arrived here about a thousand years after Jenova—that is, they arrived about two thousand years ago, and would have died in their first week here without blood transfusions from Cetra donors. At first, they didn't dissolve into pyreflies, but after a few generations, they began to—their bodies adapted to the world and joined the Lifestream cycle. It's the reason we know about graves and graveyards and things. At times even now, sometimes the Lifestream either won't, or _can't_ , take them."

For a long moment, Eden was quiet, but then he met her eyes again in realization as he said, "The Alchemist's Gate. Back when both your world and ours were accessing it, we traded off people, which was before Jenova arrived here. That would mean Al and I are direct descendants of Cetra who went to our world thousands of years ago, and that may explain how I could even have been sent here in the first place, or how Al could follow me. By default, that means all the people here now from my world are probably also descendants of the Cetra, at least to some degree—and the Wutains are actually probably descendants of the people of Xing and Japan on our world for them to be so much alike."

"Oh, that makes sense," the brown haired girl smiled, going back to her flowers.

"Okay, next question—who's Jenova?" Mei asked, still clutching Carbuncle to her.

"Jenova's a 'what' not a 'who', and is mostly destroyed, other than some floating cells in the SOLDIERs," Eden replied, motioning with his chin at Zack, who blinked in surprise and pointed at himself. "Yes, Zack, you have those infusions, too—they're right in the Mako infusions you were given. Sephiroth has the greatest quantity of cells, followed by Angeal and Genesis. The rest of the SOLDIERs have minor infusions which really just supplement their Mako enhancements and don't do much else because the quantity is too small. Well, such is the case right now.

"As for 'what' Jenova is, from what I've been able to assess, 'she' was a being known as an Omega which arrived here from another world badly damaged and three-quarters insane. Not only did she find herself on a world where she couldn't start over because there was already life here, but it had a race on it similar enough to her previous world's destroyers that it caused her to go completely off her rocker and begin trying to destroy everything—originally as a means of protecting herself. She nearly destroyed the Cetra and created most of the monsters on the world in the process, and Minerva still hasn't gotten _close_ to repairing the damage Jenova did to her in the past."

"So what's an Omega?" Al asked with a deep, thoughtful frown. "You haven't told me about that yet, but it sounds pretty important—isn't there a language back home where it means 'last' or 'final' or 'the end of something'?"

"It is and it does," the older brother answered. "An Omega is basically the final form of a planet's sentience as it leaves that world and sets off to find another world to start new life on. Its physical form is composed of all of the genetic data of the world or worlds it previously created life on, and within that physical form is the Lifestream—the living energy of all life on the planet, including its over-arching awareness. Minerva arrived here as an Omega, or possibly originated here and hasn't become an Omega yet, but Jenova was an Omega from another world that met a bad end. The Mako, the Lifestream, Chaos—that's an entity—and the stagnant Mako all have a bearing on when a world develops an Omega and the life force of it leaves."

"The life force—you mean if Minerva forms Omega and leaves, the world will become nothing more than a rock?" Al asked in something like horror, and when his older brother nodded, he asked, "But what do you mean, what's 'stagnant' Mako?"

Eden sighed and told his brother, "It forms through large-scale destruction and through the suffering of people. The entity called Chaos forms in that pool. Now here's the catch—if we just shut down the Reactors with nothing to replace them, we're going to cause a shit-load of death and suffering by putting people into a state of abject poverty and starvation with little to no means to get out of it. That, in turn, will cause the stagnant Mako pool to fill faster, which runs the risk of activating Omega, even while there are still people and animals living here. We'd defeat our own purpose if we did that, so finding a way around that is one of our huge priorities—Gaia's Refuge is in charge of that with the Turks' and SOLDIERs' knowledge and approval. Any other questions?"

"I have one," Mei said, making the others look at her. She saw them looking, so said, "Jenova is an Omega who landed here around three thousand years ago. If she landed here so long ago and released her 'genetic data' here—she'd have had to in order to create monsters, right?—then where did that 'genetic data' go when the monsters died or were killed?"

Everyone's eyes widened, then Aeris turned to look at Eden and asked, "It couldn't have disappeared, could it?"

"No," the Turk agreed, blinking with a sudden realization. "That—genetic data has been merging with Gaia's, with Minerva's, the whole time since then, so whenever Minerva forms her Omega, it's going to have all of the genetic data of both herself _and_ Jenova. It's also going to have the genetic data of whatever world the people who arrived here two thousand years ago brought with them, and the genetic data of the world _we_ came from, even though both of those probably won't be anything like 'complete' data. In the case of Jenova...Minerva has inherited her data in its entirety. At least, I'm sure Minerva can't tell her genetic data apart from Jenova's currently, and even if she could, the genetic data is physical material which can't exactly be removed from the cycle now that it's here."

"Then how could so little of Jenova's cells be left for the danger to be neutralized?" Aeris asked worriedly. "If they've merged, it would be impossible to do that!"

"Well, the cells in themselves have to be durable to create life where there isn't any, but that didn't mean she had control over every kind of cell, and this _isn't_ her world, it's Minerva's. Maybe if Jenova's root awareness had been dropped right into the Lifestream, it would have given her more power (2), but that's not what happened, so...Living cells were mainly what she seemed to have control over, like of the monsters and things like that, but...

"Instead, when they died and naturally returned 'to their creator', they _couldn't_ return to the being who created them, they _had_ to return to _the Lifestream_ , or to Minerva _because_ she's the one whose world this is—she's everywhere, not isolated to the location of the Omega body. Those cells were added to her basic genetic data, but did her no harm and no longer maintained Jenova's will in them, not enough to make a difference in any functionality. It's the _living_ cells Jenova had the ability to manipulate through—I guess all Lifestreams and Omegas operate through a kind of hive mind..." Eden replied in a musing tone. "That would explain the Cetra, too—that's a hive mind, just not one where the controlling force is being a dictator, only a communicator."

"...Oh," several of the others said, staring at him in amazement.

 **Notes:**

(1) Yes, these people are going to take it well. Al and Mei are from said 'other world', Aeris is well aware that they aren't the first people to get there from another world, Zack is pretty adaptable and easy-going as long as it doesn't hurt him or people he cares about, and Shears has basically figured out Eden's going to change his world view every time they meet.

As far as people outside the Turks knowing this data, I would say the breakdown looks like this:

*The other Amestrians and Felicia by default (there's no way Shears would keep that from her when he practically worships her)

*Likely Angeal (I'd be surprised if Zack never told him), Genesis (who already knows part of it thanks to Al speaking freely in front of him), and Sephiroth, the only question being 'when'

*Possibly Reeve and Rufus (I'm undecided on them in this path, but so far, them knowing or not hasn't come up)

Any others knowing it is debatable and probably won't happen in this path, and the kids at the Academy just think Al and Mei (and Eden to some degree) are really strange.

(2) Here's a shout-out and reference to the path the original FFVII took, but it also seemed to be something Ed would realize after thinking about it for a bit—Jenova having access to Minerva's energy directly would logically give her more power over it given how they're equally as strong.


	13. 10-Flower Home

Flower Home

"...I just thought of something," Zack said suddenly after Eden's assessment of Minerva's and Jenova's genetic data, and the others looked at him, seeing his thoughtful expression. His gaze was on Eden as he said, "It's great to start over on another world, but that would be without our memories—I mean, by what Angeal told me about Chaos and Omega Theory, if Omega forms, Chaos will slaughter us all. If we don't have the memory of what not to do and why we don't do it, how are we supposed to keep from making the same mistakes? I mean, obviously the Ancients still fell into the trap or we wouldn't have the society we do now."

Everyone was surprised by the words for a few moments before Shears admitted, "You actually make a good point, kid."

"That's not really true, though," Aeris said softly after a pause, and the others looked at her in surprise. She looked sad, but she explained, "Well, maybe the Cetra—the Ancients—would have gone this route, but it would have taken them a lot longer when left to their own devices. After all, the humans here now had their memories intact when they got here on their ships, and look what kind of society we have now. Cetra spent their whole lives traveling, taking care of the world and the balance, so tended to travel in small groups who were very close and cared about one another. The humans who arrived later didn't—they set up homes, towns, cities, and rooted themselves in those places no matter how much they had to struggle to live there, and they were where the monetary society on this world originated.

"Without them, though, there was a good chance the Cetra would have died out completely, because the Cetra aren't very prolific, but the other humans were, and after Jenova, well...Families of Cetra were _lucky_ to have two or three children in their lives, but those other humans could help them have five, six, seven, they were so prolific. Mixing the genetics also meant there were Cetra being born without the basic abilities all Cetra had. Hojo thinks there is only one Cetra left, but really, there are many of them—they just don't actively have the abilities of the Cetra. Minerva will activate those abilities again when she feels the time is right."

Eden nodded, then said, "But you still made a good point, Zack, and the only way to circumvent that is if Minerva is able to redesign Omega to act as a literal 'vessel' like the ship which dropped those other humans here in the first place. If she can't, all she can do is try again and hope they learn next time, but if she can make it hold people intact, say in a kind of stasis until she lands somewhere and it becomes habitable, they would have those memories intact, as well as their original forms. That would effectively be a kind of 'ark' meant to preserve the existing ecosystem as it is rather than her building a completely new one."

"But what if she saved someone like Fuhito because he was physically near to people she wanted to save?" Al asked worriedly. "Or someone else just as bad, like Hojo?"

After a short pause, Eden replied, "She'd have to assess for herself which option has the greater chance of success, based on who she'd be saving and in what circumstances. If she can't be specific in who she takes along with her, she'd need a way to target areas to grab people who aren't going to be out for destruction as soon as she lands."

"Like how my long-range alkahestry works!" Mei grinned suddenly. "If she could, she'd be able to target for the ones she wanted to be on the edge of the zone when needed, so anyone else near them who she absolutely didn't want wouldn't be taken, too."

"Will Jenova's 'floating cells' let that happen, or can Jenova just not do that anymore?" Al asked Eden and Aeris thoughtfully.

A long silence followed his words, then Aeris said, "Minerva says she's going to look for the remains of Jenova, and what she finds will decide what she does with them, and with any possible escape plans."

"The remains of Jenova?" Eden asked with a raised brow. "You can't just get rid of genetic data once it's there."

The girl shook her head and said, "What's left of her sentience. It's still there, just a very, very little bit because of the people who have been infused with her cells. One of them with a large quantity of her cells is probably hosting her or something."

With a sigh, the teen nodded and admitted, "I suppose that's fair as well. I wish her luck, then."

At that point, Aeris rose and said, "Well, I've done as much as I'm going to with the flowers today, so let's head to my place."

With agreement from the others, they all headed for the door of the Church as Al asked Mei, "Are you going to let—Carbuncle go now?"

"Why? It's _so_ cute, and it likes to be cuddled!" the girl answered cheerfully, rubbing her cheek on the top of Carbuncle's head—and Carbuncle wiggled happily in her arms as it practically purred.

"If that keeps Carbuncle calm and the critter likes her attention, they're welcome to keep each other company," Eden told a startled Al over his shoulder.

"Doesn't it take your energy to keep Carbuncle here, though?" Al asked with a frown. "You'd have to be keeping the cycle going to maintain it..."

"Not really," the blond Turk answered dryly. They stepped outside and turned towards Sector 5 to go to Aeris' house. "It came from a Summon Materia, so the Materia sub-arrays let it stay until it wants to go back—that's part of the rules it follows. Or, as long as its Summoner is conscious, that's the case. If I was knocked out, it would have a time limit, and even then, they can resist the limit for a certain amount of time."

"...Oh," the younger brother blinked, then looked back at Mei and Carbuncle.

"Don't worry about it, Alphonse," Aeris said with an amused smile. "Eden had to figure those things out himself, too. He just didn't have someone explaining it to him."

"How would you know? I didn't meet you until after I'd gone through that phase," the older blond pointed out dryly.

"...Someone explained Materia use to you?" she blinked.

"More than one someone. I mean, kids have to learn all that, too, and it's not unreasonable to say that someone who looks about twelve or thirteen in casual clothes wouldn't have seen or used Materia before," the Turk replied with a shrug. "Shopkeepers especially like answering questions when I ask them."

His words produced a surprised blink from Zack, Al, and Mei, a giggle from Aeris, and a snort from Shears, who commented, "For some reason, I'm not surprised by that."

They fell silent for the rest of the walk between the Church and Aeris' place, only for the ones who had never been there before to stop and gape in awe at the fields of flowers outside it—namely Zack, Al, and Mei. "And I thought the Church was impressive..." Zack murmured, echoed by Al. "You should definitely start selling these, Aeris—you'd make a fortune!"

"I'll think about it. Now come on—you all have to meet my Mom!" the brown haired girl smiled as she headed for the door, followed closely by Eden and Shears. Pushing open the door to the small, two-story home, she called, "Hi Mom, I'm back, and I have company!"

"Company?" the woman asked as she stepped out of the pantry—and stopped to stare at Eden for a moment. Her gaze then became a mildly amused smile as she said, "It's good to see you again, Eden. What brings you here?" She then blinked in surprise as the others filed in behind him, her gaze focusing on Zack with a deep frown. "Why is a SOLDIER here?"

"Oh, he was with Eden, helping the two kids find PHS's," Aeris answered. "His name's Zack Fair. The blond boy is Alphonse Elric, and the girl is Mei Chang. They're both starting as Academy students soon."

For a minute, Elmyra stared around at the group, even as Eden pushed Al at a seat at the table and pulled one out for himself as Shears pulled out a seat—and pushed Mei gently into it. Finally, the woman sighed and said, "So I'll hazard a guess and say this is becoming a safe-house for Eden's brother and Tseng's—cousin? Ward?"

"Ward," Eden said in amusement. "I don't think that was the plan in coming here, but if you're amenable, that would help. And please don't go announcing those links."

"And a SOLDIER First is going to keep quiet?" she asked dryly.

"Mom! He's fine! He even said he'd seen some awful things done to Sephiroth and Genesis, so he'd _never_ hand anyone to Hojo," Aeris answered in exasperation, and Zack nodded with a good-natured grin. Carbuncle wiggled out of Mei's grip right then and began poking around the home.

"I'm not in the habit of leading people around, either, and unless it's the Turks, I can tell they're there," the black haired sixteen-year-old added. "Since there are apparently several Turks now firmly protecting Aeris, I doubt she'll be in danger from them."

Elmyra heaved a sigh before saying, "Fine, then. We'll see what comes of this." Her gaze moved to Eden as both Zack and Aeris smiled at the words. "So, why _did_ you come here, then?"

"We're looking for some clothes for Al and a friend of ours who's tied up in her work right now," the blond Turk answered. "Her name's Winry Rockbell—you'll probably meet her soon, too. She's about the same age and height as Aeris. Most of their personal possessions were stolen recently, so if you have spare casual clothes you don't mind passing on to them, we'd appreciate it. Aeris said you make a lot of clothes, so..."

First, the woman blinked, then she smiled and gave a nod. "I sell them to the locals to make some extra money, though sometimes it's not gil I get in exchange for them, it's a service, like getting extra food or my plumbing fixed free of charge." She eyed Eden for a minute, then gave a small nod and said, "We'll call it paid by you taking care of Aeris for me. We'll start with your friend since she's not here and Alphonse's selections will be faster as a result. What's she likely to want to wear?"

They went through a list of clothing items Winry would like to wear ("Mostly skirts and shirts, a few pairs of pants or shorts, and a nice dress or two!"), patterns ("Single-color, practical designs!"), and colors (white, black, pink, green, blue, and brown), then the woman went upstairs to get selections of shirts, pants, skirts, and shorts. The three would be able to go through those (which they started doing right away) while she went back for the dresses needing to be hung up. They also kept in mind the fact that they would have to pick some tops and bottoms for Winry to sleep in.

While they were doing that, Aeris turned to Zack and took his hand as she said, "Come outside and see the flowers!" Shears snorted and stepped outside after the two, and Carbuncle quickly followed them outside as well. Shears stayed by the door to the house after he'd closed it behind him.

All of them had chosen a few things by the time Elmyra came back with six long dresses and three short ones over her arms. They looked up at her as she held them up by their hangers to show the dresses to the boys and Mei. They found one in black in the knee-length set, but more than one of the dresses they were being shown looked more like things Winry wore when she was four or five years old, so it wasn't likely she'd wear them at her current age.

Finally, however, the woman held up a long, blue dress which made both the Turk and Mei say, "That one!" Al snickered as Mei grabbed the dress, which had long sleeves, a wider neck than the black one, and a single pattern in green and white swirls like a magical plant running from the bottom hem on the left all the way up to the left shoulder. It zipped up the back and had no waist-line, just the curve of the dress. (1)

"So, if you don't think she'd like this pink one, that covers the dresses, but she'll have to come and get the blue one fitted properly at the waist as it doesn't have an actual waist-line," Elmyra said, showing them the pink (and last) dress.

"She wouldn't like it—it's _too much_ like what she wore when she was four," Al answered in amusement. "She's outgrown it."

Elmyra nodded and said, "I'll take these back upstairs to hang them up, then, and you can keep choosing from the rest. When I come back to grab what you haven't chosen, we'll go through a list like that for Al as well." With that, she went back upstairs.

It didn't take them long to finish finding Winry's clothes and for Elmyra to move them back upstairs, so she asked Al for his clothing preferences. For him, it was plain shirts and pants, possibly shorts, and maybe a suit if he needed it, mostly without designs or patterns (though checkered or plaid had potential), and largely in blue, white, black, or brown—though he admitted a shirt in green might be nice. Elmyra got him a selection of items, and he picked several things himself, but she didn't have any undergarments for either Winry or Al, so they'd still have to stop by a shop for those.

Finally, they were done and could ask for a bag to put everything in while making arrangements for Elmyra to keep the blue dress until Winry could get it fitted. Once everything was ready, they thanked her and headed out, Ed and Al each carrying a bag of clothes.

"So...where will we get—undergarments?" Al asked, making Shears turn to look at them.

"We'll be able to stop at a shop here or on the Plate on our way back for some of those for you. If we have Freyra and Mei helping us out, they'll be able to pick some things for Winry, too. How are you set, Mei? Need anything or are you going to talk with Tseng about that?" Ed asked the girl.

"I might grab a few things, but I have to talk with him about where I can get clothes like mine that I'm used to," Mei answered. "Whether under or over."

"Hang on a sec, then," Eden replied, pulling out his PHS and dialing Tseng's number.

"Has something happened?" the man asked tiredly.

"No, except for us meeting Shears and Aeris while we were in town," the Turk snorted. "I just wanted to ask if there's a shop which can make Wutain clothes like Mei's here in Midgar."

"...They met her? Wait, _how_ did they meet her, and how did Fair take it?"

"She decided to greet me with a hug in the phone shop, and Zack and Aeris have a crush on each other. I'm pretty sure he's going to hang around here with her for awhile. Freyra and Zack have both said they're not going to take her to Hojo."

"I see. That's better than I expected. As for a shop, I'll have to take her to a private tailor I know to get her clothing like that in this area."

"Got it, I'll let her know, then," the blond Turk agreed.

"Are you on your way back, then?" Tseng asked curiously.

"Yes, after we make a quick stop at a shop for a few things more things."

"Good. Come up to my office when you get back so I can show you something on one of our recordings."

"Will do." Eden hung up and faced the others—Zack, Aeris, and Carbuncle had joined them by then—so he could tell Mei, "He's going to have to introduce you to a private tailor he knows, so unless something in a shop catches your eye, you'll have to wait." She nodded, so he looked at Zack to say, "And I told him you'd be hanging around here for a bit. Am I right?"

"As long as I'm allowed, yeah," Zack agreed cheerfully.

"Good. That means we're done here and the three of us can head back to the Church to meet with Freyra," Eden nodded. His gaze then fell on the Summon as he asked, "And what do _you_ plan to do?"

" _Explore!_ " Carbuncle answered happily.

"Will that interfere with me Summoning you if I need your help?" the Turk asked thoughtfully.

" _Nope! I'll just be moved to where you are,_ " the small creature answered.

"Good enough. Go play, then," Eden agreed, and Carbuncle happily obliged.

"That's so weird," Al sighed.

"What's weird about it?" Aeris asked curiously.

"By what I know of things like that from home, the point of summoning was to have a powerful spirit entity at your beck and call—to obey you and smite your enemies and have no minds or thoughts of their own," the fifteen-year-old told her.

" _That_ makes no sense at all," Aeris pouted. "A spirit _has_ to be sentient to _be_ a spirit, so if it's sentient, it also _has_ to have thoughts and feelings of its own, and the ability to choose. Even the Summons can turn on a Summoner who does something too much against their beliefs."

"...I guess I never thought of that..."

"Human arrogance at its best," Zack snickered, making the others blink at him.

"Anyway, we should head out," Eden said, motioning for Al and Mei to follow him. "See you around, Aeris, Shears, Zack."

"See ya, kid," Shears answered as Zack and Aeris waved. Al and Mei quickly fell in with him as they headed back through the Sector 5 'town' and to the Church between Sectors 5 and 6.

When they got there, Freyra was sitting on the front step with a bag almost as big as the ones Ed and Al carried beside her. She rose as she saw them coming and called, "I got everything I needed. It looks like you got more than expected."

"Yeah, Elmyra had lots of decent clothes," Ed agreed with a grin. "Were you waiting long?"

"Nope, about five minutes. I had to run an errand for the guy before he'd work with me to get some work clothes for Winry. Any other stops?" the lady Turk asked as she fell in with them.

"Just to pick up a few undergarments for Al and Winry—though I'll leave Winry's things to you and Mei. Anything on the way so we don't have to detour back into Wall Market?" the blond Turk asked.

"There's a clothing shop near the Sector One train station on the Upper Plate, and it has fairly normal clothes for decent prices for the Plate," she answered. "Most of Sector One up there has very elite things, but near the station, it's more like what you'd find outside of Sector Eight. And we could also easily reach the Sector Five market from the station."

"What's in Sector Eight that makes it so high-priced?" Al asked curiously.

"LOVELESS Avenue—basically, the theater and all of the most elite entertainment," Freyra replied, and Eden snickered.

"Seriously? I really need to get out into the city more, since I had no idea there was basically a whole area of it devoted to that stupid play Genesis likes so much," the Turk snickered. "The shop in Sector One will do, though."

"Don't _ever_ let Genesis hear you call it stupid..." Freyra warned. She then smirked and added, "Oh, and the Red Leather fan club is housed in Sector Eight, too."

"The what?" all three of the teens asked in confusion as they passed through the playground and headed up to the train station.

"The General and the Commanders each have a fan club—Shinra did it on purpose, actually. Genesis' fan club is called Red Leather," the woman answered in amusement.

"...I'm almost afraid to ask about the others..." Al commented.

"Angeal's is called the Keepers of Honor, Sephiroth's is the Silver Elite, and now they've added the Lady's Aces (2) for Sora. Then, there's also the Study Group, which is sort of Genesis' and sort of LOVELESS'. They used to be the same group as Red Leather, but split up over how much effort they were devoting to Genesis or to LOVELESS research. Though, the Study Group mainly uses Genesis' research into the play to work out their own studies and research, so..."

At the words, Eden snorted and mused, "I wonder if he's ever going to tell them the poem and the play have two completely different meanings and shouldn't actually be sharing the same space in the same story."

"...Should I ask?" Freyra questioned wryly.

"Depends on how badly you want to know," the younger Turk answered, leading the way onto the train platform, where they saw they had a bit to wait for the train to arrive.

"I'll probably find out eventually, so I'll skip it," she answered in amusement. "In the meantime, maybe we should grab something to eat while we're waiting. 7th Heaven isn't far from here, is it?" Her amused gaze was on Eden, who groaned and sighed before looking at the time again.

"Isn't that a bar?" Al asked with a small frown. "We're too young to go there, and there won't be much for food, either."

"Al, age of adulthood here is fourteen, so only Mei couldn't go in there and get an alcoholic drink—and that's assuming people in the Slums _care_ that much about age rules," Ed answered his brother dryly.

"Since Gaia's Refuge pretty much owns the place, I'd think they'd care," Freyra answered in amusement.

"They do?" both Al and Mei asked in mild surprise.

"Wasn't there an Inn near there?" Eden asked suddenly, and the others blinked at him. "We want food, not drinks. Let's see if the Inn has anything edible."

Freyra laughed, then led the way to the Inn in question, which _did_ serve decent food.

 **Notes:**

(1) This dress became more important as a story gimmick than I had first thought. Winry actually NEEDS a formal dress—you're all going to find out how that happens later on, and some of you may not be too surprised—and the other is that it's a real, viable reason for Winry to meet Aeris and her mother, rather than 'just because' she's Ed's friend. Too many 'just becauses' would attract too much attention to the Gainsborough home.

(2) As far as I can tell, the fan clubs work based on the biggest names in SOLDIER, which was why the General and Commanders had them. Sora, as a ranked Commander, would also be in the public eye quite a lot, so it would make sense for them to develop one for her. Whether Zack will ever have one given how Genesis and Angeal are still there and they now also have Sora to focus on, I have no idea. Other than this mention, though, none of the fan clubs should have any presence in or bearing on the story.


	14. 11-Coming to a Head

**A/N:** The end of this chapter HAS to happen. Al wouldn't let it not.

To be clear on something, since it was mentioned: Ed and Al's Cetra genetics came from their MOTHER! The rest of the response to this became longer than expected due to clarifying my reasoning, so for anyone who wants the full explanation, check the end of the chapter!

Coming to a Head

It didn't take Eden, Al, Mei, and Freyra long to get the last items they needed and get back to the Shinra building (all via little-used paths, which Freyra knew better than Eden), which they entered via the stairwell, then took the elevator. Knowing Tseng wanted to see him, Ed first headed to Reeve's office to leave all Winry's clothes and supplies with her, then returned Al and Mei to his apartment. Freyra went with them to Reeve's office to talk with Winry about what she'd gotten her, then planned on heading right back to the Turks' office. Once Al and Mei were safely in his apartment, Ed headed to the Turks' office himself to talk with Tseng.

When he got to the main office and stepped inside, Ruluf said, "Tseng's in the command center. He left me here in case you were too tired the last time you went to that room. Do you remember how to get in?" He was working on something on the computer while a disk sat on the desk beside his hand on the mouse.

Blinking at the man, Eden realized no one else was in the office right then. Freyra must have still been with Winry, and any others were either out or in the command center, too. Thinking back on the end of the Invasion, he realized, "I have a vague memory of where the trigger is, but I was really tired then."

Nodding once, the black haired man said, "Give me a minute to finish this, first, then."

They fell silent for a few minutes before Ruluf pushed away from his desk with a sigh and rose, so Eden took the opportunity to ask in amusement, "So, you went to check up on my friend in the Slums?"

The older Turk blinked in momentary surprise, then gave a small, wry smile and said, "I overheard something that made me think it wasn't a great idea to leave her unattended just then." He then led the way from the room and to the office where the camera room was hidden—and Eden noted how Reno's name was the one on it now.

"Reno's the new second-in-command of the Turks? Really?" the blond asked in amazement. Reno was younger than Tseng, and it was shocking enough having a twenty-year-old boss.

"You haven't seen either the worst or the best of him yet," Ruluf replied dryly. "He's actually been in that position since before Veld left—they've just been...waiting for the turnover, really. And none of the other current Turks especially _want_ command, or are suited to it—there's at least one who wants it but isn't great at command—but if Reno pulls up his socks and gets serious, he can do a damned good job. That's _why_ Tseng sent him with you into Deepground, given the risk he was taking in the first place—Reno was his best chance to mitigate it if it went bad."

"I see," Eden answered in amusement, moving up to the wall where the door and the trigger were, lifting his hand to touch a section of the wall. "It's somewhere around here, right?"

"That's the second trigger," the black haired Turk answered, and Ed turned to look at him—only to see Reno at the door, looking amused as he crossed his arms and casually leaned on the jamb.

"Reno," the blond addressed the red haired Turk, who gave an amused smirk as Ruluf turned to him and gave a small nod.

"Looks like the fun will be startin' soon, yo," Reno answered, sounding pleased.

At the words, Eden thought he probably didn't want to know, so turned back to Ruluf and asked, "Second trigger?"

"You can't access that one until you find the first one," Ruluf replied. "It's in this office, and no, you won't find it on anything wooden, like the desk or bookshelves. That would mean the item would have to be fixed in place, which is too easily noted if someone is looking for something like that. Start searching from there."

Eden blinked, then nodded and scanned the office, mentally cataloging the things in the room as he assessed what he knew about hidden paths and triggers. The things he didn't have to check—were most of the office furniture, as they were things like the desk, office chairs, several bookshelves, and a small corner table, or were things sitting on top of those, like the computer and a landline phone. The plants in their pots were also not on his radar. That left door and window frames, the overhead light, a second light on the wall across from the windows, the floor and ceiling, and the wallpapered walls themselves.

It didn't take him long to discard everything but the one wall which was mostly unoccupied and the lamp (a mood-light, he realized) fixed to it. It also didn't take him long to realize it wasn't going to be the wall, which left the lamp, but the lamp didn't move, so he began looking more closely at its decorated fixture. Near the bottom edge of it, one small, triangular piece of the rim wasn't actually connected to the pieces around it like the others of its relatives. When he pushed on it, the place he'd noted earlier on the other wall popped outward slightly, creating a bump in the wall behind the wallpapering.

Getting under the wallpaper turned out to be easy, too, as that just required finding the one little corner peeled slightly away from the wall, lifting it up and to the left, and slipping his hand into the space behind it to push a trigger in there. Beside him to the right, there was an audible click and part of the wall swung away from him a couple inches as the door to the camera room and command center was revealed. As soon as he took his hand away, the panel and the wallpaper settled back into place like they had never moved.

Reno gave an impressed whistle as Ruluf commented, "Nice. New record."

A moment later, the red haired Turk sauntered past Eden and shoved the door wide open as he called, "Six minutes and thirty-eight seconds from the first clue, yo!"

From in the room, Tseng's voice answered, "Three seconds better than you. Then again, he had a handicap."

"What do you mean, a handicap?" Eden glared as he walked into the room with Ruluf behind him. The black haired man closed the door behind them as the blond scanned the room, which had mid-level lighting and only a faint, greenish glow from all the consoles and screens. There was a table without chairs in the middle of the room and the whole wall-and-a-bit of screens and set of chairs with it was both intriguing and daunting. The Wutain man had his eyes on several of the floor diagrams as he rested his hands on the desk, and he didn't look up when they came in.

"Ruluf?" Tseng asked, shuffling the papers some as he compared two of them with a small frown of thought and focus.

"He remembered the general area of the second trigger from when you brought him here after the Invasion," Ruluf answered. "I'm not sure it's a handicap in anything but him maybe knowing the first trigger wouldn't be on that same wall."

The words made Tseng look up at Eden curiously, so the blond replied dryly, "I was tired then and it was my first—and only until now—time in this room, but I have some experience with finding hidden doors and paths."

With a nod, the Wutain said, "We'll qualify you as on par with Reno that way."

"It took you 'til now to realize that, yo?" Reno snorted as he leaned casually against one of the side wings of the camera consoles.

"The tests still need to be made official when applicable," Tseng shrugged, then straightened fully and asked the blond Turk, "Did you find what you needed in town?"

"Yeah—and did one better. Winry will have to come with us soon to get fitted for the gown we got her," Eden agreed. "You said you had something for me to look at?"

"Here," the Wutain nodded, facing the camera screens and going to one which was black. He pressed some of the buttons on the console panel below that column of five screens which caused the black one to light up with a paused image of two people—a blond woman and a black haired man—stepping into the glass elevator, showing their faces clearly. Both dressed in plain, white shirts and their dark blue combat pants and black boots, the man with a button-up shirt and glasses and the woman with a round-necked shirt and a larger, denim shirt open over it, but neither wore any insignias.

Ed knew those faces right away and said, "Hawkeye and Fuery. They're scouting to prepare for the attack. But the thing is—I know their skills, and—why did you even think to show me this? They're good at looking like they belong in a place."

"They are," Tseng agreed. "But we're the same sort of people, and when two individuals deliberately move through a building always within eyesight of one another while looking like they aren't together, we hear warning bells."

"...I guess that's fair, and while they do that sort of thing a lot—they don't do it in places with cameras. I mean—there aren't any cameras in Amestris, so they probably don't even know what these are and wouldn't know how to prepare for them. Did they go through every floor up to the executive ones?" the blond asked.

"Pretty much," Reno agreed. "Fuery's an interestin' fellow, yo. Even when I stopped 'im to talk with 'im here on our floor, Hawkeye was nearby, just in sight, but lookin' really, really closely at our interrogation rooms. I'd never been so glad ya cleared all of 'em out when you did, yo."

"Some people on the other floors didn't take the presence of strangers well, so they didn't stay long there, but because neither we nor the SOLDIERs reacted to them with anything but curious confusion, no one was overly hostile, either," Tseng added, turning to look at the frozen screen. "But I can see why you think Hawkeye would want to join the Turks if it was her own choice—she'd do well here, too. She's easily as good at hiding a weapon on her person as we are."

"Handgun," Eden said right away with a nod. "She's never without it and hides it well, but she's a full-on sniper. Except she can snipe even with a handgun, her range just isn't as far. I'd be more shocked if she came into what she thinks is hostile territory _without_ her gun."

"And the skills of the others included three others like you, but who can't use it due to the proximity of the Reactors. What will they use in its place?" the Wutain asked. "Materia?"

"Maybe, if they figured out the slots and were able to get their hands on gear with them. If not, Fuery and Mustang will use guns as well, but both know some unarmed and I _know_ Mustang can use some other weapons decently, like a sword, and he's not above using bombs. Amal and Teacher will probably go unarmed—and make no mistake, they'll both knock down walls with their bare hands and feet," the younger Turk snorted.

The older Turk gave a small sigh and said, "Which is the reason you thought Sora should intercept Mrs. Curtis, as one very powerful woman to another. So you've said, and Alphonse agreed. We've picked a SOLDIER to deal with Amal as well. Will they come tonight since they did the scouting today?"

"Could be tonight or tomorrow night. I'd bet on the latter so they have time to formulate a plan and for people to 'forget about them' a bit before—attacking, but I don't think it would be any later than that, especially if it's true Hawkeye was 'looking really closely' at the interrogation rooms."

"...She'd have realized they were recently occupied."

"You said yourself they were showing Turk traits, and I don't think those rooms have locked doors."

"They don't, and that's something we need to account for, so it's just as well we've chosen Turks to head them off. Reno, print these out and give them to Quis and Freyra so they know who they're dealing with, and keep watch here until I get back."

"Will do," Reno agreed.

Tseng faced the blond Turk and asked, "Is Mei at your apartment right now?"

"She should be—it's not like she's got somewhere else to go," Eden replied.

"I'll retrieve her now, then. You and Alphonse should also stay out of sight until we let you know they're in custody," the Wutain man told him, then turned to leave the room. Eden and Ruluf followed him out, Ruluf to return to his work while both Tseng and Eden went back to the younger's apartment. On the way, Tseng commented, "Your 'history' with your teacher may not be as cut-and-dry as it is with the others, depending on what she ends up agreeing to—if she takes on those two kids, it will definitely be different from theirs. I'll fill you in more once I know her answer."

"Sure," Ed agreed, brow raised but somehow not really surprised. (1)

When they stepped inside his apartment soon after, no one was immediately visible, but it looked like the balcony door was open, so the two headed over to it. Outside, they found Al leaning on the balcony as he stared out at the city and mountains far past the wastes south of Midgar, and Mei was doing some exercises further down, her bag by the wall near her. Eden knew it as a form of martial arts training routine known as a kata since Teacher had used them with him and Al as well.

"Doing all right, you two?" Ed asked them.

"Fine," Al agreed, not looking at Ed.

Mei was silent until she finished the exercise she was doing, then stood straight with a grin and said, "You have a nice apartment."

"Your discipline is commendable," Tseng told her, and she practically glowed.

"Thank you!" Mei smiled.

"And thank you for saying it's a nice place," Eden said wryly. "Especially since I haven't had a chance to do anything with it so it's all the Company's stuff."

Al gave a snort and said over his shoulder, "That's probably a good thing, Br—Eden, or it would have a rather macabre look to it. I still remember you fixing some of the homes in—back home—with skull-headed balconies and things."

Tseng gave a small chuckle as he looked at the blond Turk to ask, "Really?"

Eden shrugged. "I did. And most people didn't appreciate it, so I thought I was better off not doing it unless I wanted to upset people. No skull-headed bridges or anything in the last five months."

"That was probably a wise decision. It would be too obvious a calling card to track you by," the Wutain said, then looked at Mei. "We're ready to go now. I'll be escorting you to the same house in Sector One where Princess Yufi is staying. So you're both aware, your first day of school tomorrow will begin with things such as fitting your uniforms, collecting your books, and learning your way around the Academy, so you're in no rush. Every day thereafter, you'll need to be on time for your first lesson. Eden, make sure you get Alphonse down there within a reasonable time after breakfast."

"Okay," both Mei and Eden said, then chuckled as the girl grabbed her bag and Tseng led the way inside. "Bye, Alphonse! See you tomorrow!" the girl said before leaving the balcony.

"Yeah, see you, Mei," Al agreed, giving her a smile, then turning back to the view.

For a few minutes, the two brothers stood out there together, Ed moving over to lean on the rail beside Al as he wondered what he should say. Finally, he said, "It's really different. All of it is...so different from what Amestris was like, and so much has changed because of that."

"...You're like a different person," the younger blond sighed faintly, eyes moving down to the city below for a moment before he spun sharply away from the view and walked inside rigidly. Because Al kept talking, Eden followed him in, closing the balcony door behind him. "It's like...I don't know...sometimes I can still see my Big Brother, but sometimes...I really think I'm looking at a stranger. Now I really wonder what I'm doing here. You—really do fit in well, so it's hard to see you just...so comfortable with people who are complete strangers and as unsavory as Kimblee..." He stopped in the middle of the room with his back to the balcony, and to Ed.

The Turk was silent for a bit before saying, "I _am_ different. Al, some Materia can do things like resurrect the dead, instantly heal wounds, even automatically revive you if you die." Al's wide-eyed gaze turned to him in shock. "I _really did die_ once, and was saved by the Materia combination which let the auto-revive happen. It was worse because my neck had been broken and the back of my skull crushed, and the level of my Revive Materia was only the weaker version—it could only undo the fatal damage, not all the _rest_ of it. For the first time...I realized what it must have felt like for you to have 'died' when the Gate took you, and I...didn't take it well." He paused for a moment before sighing and saying, "But that incident is one of the major reasons I just—adapted and didn't bother to try being just like I had been."

"So it's suddenly okay for human transmutation to go on, like that Carbuncle or bringing the dead back to life?" Al frowned, eyes angry.

"They aren't my rules, Al," Ed answered softly, turning to face the balcony doors and crossing his arms over his chest loosely. "Minerva literally makes these rules and holds to them, barely letting even people with my skills bend them. There's a narrow window in which you can resurrect someone—about eleven minutes, or before their brain activity completely stops. If you don't do it by then, you're out of luck. You have to have most of the whole body intact for it to work, and if they died of old age, it won't work. It isn't a...It's still impossible to bring back the dead. This is really more like shock therapy used to restart someone's heart if it's stopped, it's just more guaranteed to work."

"And I'm guessing you have a justification for suddenly believing in a God when you never have before?" the younger brother asked, sounding more puzzled than angry.

"Do you believe in Mei's 'veins of the dragon'?"

"Of course! We've both tangibly used it, even if it was for small, simple things."

"The Lifestream is the same thing as the veins of the dragon. It has a sentience, but on our world, the sentience is almost not present because it's stretched so thin over the world. That same sentience here is—compressed into a space maybe about the size of the country of Japan, giving it a tangible form called Minerva. She _isn't_ a deity by that definition, she's the awareness of this world, and nothing here could even _exist_ without her—this _rock_ wouldn't have enough mass for the gravity to create an atmosphere without her forcibly creating it, and the gravity's _still_ lighter here than back home."

"But you're describing an all-powerful deity."

"All-powerful deities can't be hurt or killed, and she's dying because of stupid humans. She's got some power, but not the kind of power it takes to forcibly save herself—we have to do her leg-work. There's only so much help she can give us."

For a long time, Al was silent as he eyed his older brother's absent gaze staring into the distance to something only he could see. Finally, he asked quietly, "What else happened to you? It feels like there's a rift between us, something about you I'll never really understand, something you haven't told me yet. What is it?"

"A lot has happened," Eden sighed, debating with himself for a moment about how much he should say—then realizing he _had_ to explain before Al got hit in the face with the unpleasant reality of Shinra and the Planet. "Did you see the hole being patched up in the Sector Two Plate? It happened when some Wutain troops acting without their Emperor's knowledge or approval attacked the city under the guise of some terrorists who originated in their homeland. The actual _terrorists_ avoided the civilians, but the Wutain soldiers _went out of their way_ to kill men, women, and children, unarmed civilians who weren't even _trying_ to get in their way. They killed about thirty percent of Midgar's population by their actions.

"There were...barely enough defenders to force them from the city, and that only because Genesis, Sephiroth, Angeal, and a number highly skilled Turks had gotten back a day sooner than expected, and just in time to respond to the attack. There was no time, and they were playing for keeps. I could only use Materia and martial skills, and enough people were already dead or in danger of dying. If they'd made it to the President's office, they would have had free access to everyone _else_ in the building—the secretaries, the clerks, the Cadets, the students at the Academy, the doctors and engineers. I'm a lot of things, but I'm not a fool. This was nothing like the civil war in Central, this was a hostile attempted takeover by people who would have brutally slaughtered or enslaved the whole of Midgar's population."

Ed turned and met his younger brother's gaze. "I fought them. I killed them." Tears filled the younger blond's eyes as he shook his head in denial or disbelief, or both. "I didn't keep count, but I know Tseng and I were the only guards on the President's balcony, so it's pretty safe to say the two of us killed seventy people or more because they refused to back down. It...wasn't fun. I don't think it ever will be. But as much as I wish it didn't have to be the case— _who was I protecting_ , Al? I can tell you right now, it wasn't the President. It was kids like Shalua and Elena, doctors trying to heal people...Are you going to tell me I was _wrong_ to do that?"

When Al shook his head and said quietly, "I can understand that. I don't like it, but I can understand it. That's what soldiers do, that's what people like Mustang and Miles have done."

For a moment, golden eyes pierced blue, then Eden dropped the real bombshell on his brother, the reality of how harsh the Planet as it was right then could be. "The President had been building up his own private army of experimental super-soldiers, mostly through kidnapping. If you ever thought the alchemists' super-soldiers or the chimeras were powerful, they were _nothing_ compared to what was done to the soldiers of Deepground. Then, we found out they had been kidnapping people from the Slums after losing nearly all their important and powerful people to Genesis. The result was a raid on their hidden base. Basic rules, find any who were still sane and kill the rest."

"Even their victims?" Al gasped in horror.

"Unless they were sane, yes. There were _at least_ a thousand people there, and nearly all of them were either too indoctrinated to rehabilitate or completely insane, broken. Or both. We could only save less than fifty of them, and we _had_ to kill the rest. Yes, they were victims. They were victims of experimentation and torture, and what we did was essentially mercy killing, because trying to rehabilitate them would have just unleashed hundreds of psychotic murderers taught to relish bloodshed on a population with no defense. We couldn't save the common civilians or them any other way."

"That can't be..." the younger boy whispered in a trembling voice, his expression stricken. "You didn't, though, right? You only fought if you had to?" He looked ill.

"...Do you know what it means to see someone drowning in their own saliva, or to see them completely unresponsive, as though comatose when they aren't? Those people had no souls anymore, there was _nothing there_. Or the ones who were raging beasts tearing one another apart when left untended, feeling no pain? And Al, the Turks had the task of executing the experiments who weren't sane anymore. I was sent to the experimental facility first and foremost. So, I killed them. It was just too, too painful to watch them—they weren't even as capable as Nina when her father..."

He drew in a deep breath as he felt tears come to his own eyes, meeting his brother's gaze again. "I didn't like it, but I knew it was coming and there was no way out of it. That was one of the most disturbing things I've ever had to do, but...those people would never have had any kind of quality of life. Would it really have been helping them to try to turn them over to doctors, just to remain in that state until they died of old age? I already know you'll say it was wrong of me, so I won't ask, I'll just say this: don't judge me when you weren't there and didn't see what they looked like. If you want to know what they think of our actions, you can start with Shelke. She can also point out to you every one of the experimental subjects we freed and have been rehabilitating."

Tears ran down Al's cheeks as he fell onto the couch and just lay there for some time. Ed went to his room to find a book and took it to the kitchen table to read, knowing his brother needed time after hearing what Eden had done.

Yes, there was now a rift, and a large one, between them. Al could no longer deny how large it was.

Neither could Ed...Eden.

 **Notes:**

(1) This discussion is happening before they get to Ed's floor where the listening device is—basically, while they're on their office floor and the elevator, no later than that.

Okay, to address why I believe Cetra genetics would have come from Trisha Elric:

Stranger, you said it yourself that Xerxes was completely insular, with gold hair and gold eyes. To the best of my knowledge (and what's known of FFVII's history), Aeris and Ifalna were typical of the Cetra, which is brown hair and green eyes (though with Minerva appearing as a blond woman, that's a potential original hair color for them—BLOND, not 'gold', as Minerva's hair is fairly pale), which would indicate the Cetra and the Xerxan people WEREN'T the same race.

Here's a few other points: the Xerxans possibly had trade outside their area, but they didn't marry outside their own kind (insular), stayed rooted in one place, and notably had slavery, something which would have been foreign to the Cetra. The Cetra who would have arrived in the general area of Xerxes and Amestris would have been the original ones, who were NOMADS, and kept traveling—it's highly unlikely they would have stayed in the desert (they would have been more interested in exploring the rest of the world, besides their habit of staying on the move) or that the Xerxans would have accepted them as anything other than guests and trading partners.

Now also take into account the fact that Hohenheim lived for thousands of years before meeting Trisha—yet there's NO reference to any other descendants of his, no relatives on his side to introduce her or Ed and Al to...That basically means NO ONE ELSE attracted his attention. In thousands of years. The next most logical question then is, "Why Trisha?" There had to be something unique or special about her which wasn't a factor with anyone else he met.

Cetra energies create balance (if we assume Trisha has those genetics and they're even partially active), and with him being a Philospher's Stone, it's highly likely Hohenheim was sensing her energies helping to heal and balance his own. He then has a tangible reason to want to stay near her, and when he finds out she's largely a mild person who is accepting of his differences (also a Cetra trait, just look at Aeris and Ifalna!), there's an emotional and logical reason to be with her and have a family. This answers the question of, "Why Trisha?"

As such, Ed and Al's Cetra genes kinda have to come from their mother. Though, even if their Cetra genes had come from their father, that would make them half-Cetra, like Aeris. That isn't the case here, and they have LESS Cetra blood than she does, maybe around the same as Genesis, which is actually less than one eighth. In genetics, though, any existing genes can suddenly fully activate in a child, even ones which have been recessive for thousands of years—that's what all the Amestrians and Genesis have, that active throwback. This is recorded in our own actual genetic studies, that a Caucasian couple could have a Negro child because somewhere in one of their histories, they had a Negro ancestor, and those normally recessive Negro genes suddenly chose to activate in that particular child.

Of course, I had originally not thought 'who' Ed and Al's genetics came from was all that important, but since comments are coming up about it, here's my answer.

Stranger, as for any of the Amestrians returning to the Lifestream, because they came through the Alchemist's Gate, not on a space ship, over several years' time, they would become like any other person on Gaia and return, body and soul, to the Lifestream (unless something in particular interfered with that process). If they died before their body finished transitioning back to their root genetics, their soul would return to Minerva/the Lifestream, but not their body. I would estimate this to take 7 (5 and 7 are noted power numbers, and there's applications for this in alchemy, which will be noted later) years or longer, depending on the person. Knowing Ed, he would probably do it faster, just because he's contrary that way. :P :D


	15. 12-Working it Out

**A/N:** There will finally be an explanation of the Amestrians' arrival there and the time between then and when Genesis found them. I debated doing this as flashbacks, but the scenes for that weren't forming, so it may not be as interesting as I had hoped. If anyone has suggestions for other points which may need to be discussed, explained, or described, please let me know, and I'll either find places for them or let you know they'll come up later. For now, though, Al is pretty over-loaded with the world and the changes to Ed, so after his piece, he gets to go on to something FAMILIAR! :D

A note on Ed's behavior—so far, he's not reverting, but he's also still processing everything, and that doesn't mean he won't start reverting.

Also, because people (yes, definite multiples) are asking about this point—Ed referencing Japan, which he's actually done a few times in Salvation's Hands (I think there was once or twice in Catalyst Array, too) when talking to Amestrians—my answer's at the end of the chapter, with the Notes.

Working it Out

Ed wasn't actually sure how much time had passed before Al pushed himself up from the couch, went to use the washroom, and came back to sit at the table. The older blond's eyes actually moved up to him for a moment before going back to his book, one of the ones he was using to try to work out Felicia's issue with the shard of Zirconaide in her arm. He'd read it before, so he didn't need to focus much on it, but there were a few points he was still trying to work through to see if they could be resolved. If Al wanted to talk, he was going to let the younger blond start it.

"...You didn't want to kill them?" Al asked tentatively several minutes later, voice miserable.

Looking up again, Eden saw the fifteen-year-old with his elbows on the table and the heels of his hands pressed to his eyes. "If there had been another way, I wouldn't have. We weren't dealing with some normal—horrific—situation, we were dealing with something well beyond that. I really doubt I'll ever _like_ killing, Al, but there are times, as much as I hate it, that it has to be done—apparently more here than in Amestris, or we were always just lucky enough to miss the killing back there. With the difference in the age of majority here versus there, we ended up being more sheltered from unpleasant realities there, and neither of us will get that sheltering here because we're both legally adults."

Slowly, the younger blond nodded into his hands, but he didn't seem to be any happier. After another minute of silence, he sighed and said, "You're right. I don't really have the right to say anything because I didn't see what you saw. It's just...I never thought you...could be so cold."

"It's not 'cold', it's the opposite," the older brother answered. "We...got too caught up in our own definitions of what was 'good' and what was 'bad'. If we had a completely ideal world where cases of extreme torture and experimentation didn't happen, our definitions still would have been off, because all we were really thinking about was ourselves."

Eden paused, then sighed and went on, "It hurts when people die, especially people we know, people we care about. Because we don't want to face or accept that pain, deal with it, and move forward, we wind up causing more pain. That's how I...well, how _we_ —got you 'taken', how I wound up shoving you in an isolation tank and almost driving you insane, and how you managed to strand a bunch of other Amestrians here on Gaia. Every one of those actions stemmed from our inability to accept a death and move on. Did I _really_ do you any favors by sticking you in that suit of armor? I know we did squat for Mom by trying to bring her back. What you _thought_ you were doing for me—were you actually doing _me_ any good, or were you just doing it for yourself, convincing yourself you _must_ be helping me because you couldn't let me go?"

Al flinched at the words and mumbled, "You must hate me now."

"Why would you think something _that_ stupid?" the older teen asked in a dry tone. "No, that's not my point. Say someone's dying of an incurable disease which is ravaging their body painfully and it will take several months for them to die. Their family doesn't _want_ them to die, and I understand that, but—by keeping them alive and in a state of agony for months while their body shuts down and their quality of life deteriorates—is that really _helping that person_? In all honesty, no, it's not—it's _torturing_ them.

"That's really just the selfishness of the people who will be left behind, not a sign of caring at all. It would be far better to let that person go with dignity before their pain is too bad and their quality of life too low. _That's_ caring. That's not wanting to see that person in pain anymore, and letting the person choose their time to move on—if they choose to stay in the hopes that someone finds a cure before they die, that's one thing, but if they want to end the suffering, that's _also_ their choice. We've always lived our lives thinking no one should die, that it's better to keep them alive...no matter what."

"Because we can't do anything for them if they're dead," Al replied, but still didn't look up.

"And because of that, all of a year ago, both of us would have kept that person living in agony alive, even if they _begged_ for death. We'd have thought it was right. Is it really right when we're subjecting them to several months of torture?"

"...You're really...If we don't save them, then what good are we?"

"Really? We couldn't save Nina."

"That's because she was murdered by Scar." (1)

"We still couldn't have saved her. We still couldn't turn her back. And you know—she would have known what he was there for, but she didn't run away from him. Just like I knew he was coming to kill me, she would have sensed that he was there to kill her. For her to let him—was she really okay? Or was she in pain?"

"Now you're just justifying murder."

"You should have a long talk with Tseng about assigning blame, because your perception of who is at fault for what is just as skewed as mine was. I'm still working on it, but it's a lot easier to live when you don't feel guilt over the actions of others, whether you were there or not. Scar (1) chose to kill her. _She_ chose to let him. Did _a murder_ actually take place, or _an assisted suicide_?"

For several long minutes, Al was silent, trying to associate this person talking with him now with the Big Brother he had once known. In all of five months (and a bit), Ed had become someone he really didn't know anymore, and he was only just realizing he had no choice but to accept that. Even if he didn't like it, the things his brother had been dragged into had left him so changed...And he decided to try one last thing in the hopes of seeing something familiar— _anything_ familiar.

"Can I have a cat? Wait, do cats even exist here?" the younger teen asked, looking up just a bit to see Ed's reaction.

"They do, and you can," Eden agreed, looking amused suddenly. " _Subtle_ change of topic, of course, but you must be feeling a little better to ask."

Al blinked, then blinked again, then quirked a small smile and said, "Not really. I was trying to see if you'd do _anything_ familiar at all, and if you didn't react to that like you usually would—just wow. You're saying 'yes' to a _cat_ —you've never said 'yes' before." He gave his head a little shake like he was trying to clear it.

"It's not so much that I'm reacting differently, it's that the situation is different now. One big point is that you're going to have a stable home to keep a cat _in_ , and the other is that you won't be living here long enough for it to affect me. You'll have to bring up the topic with Anthony, though, since _he'll_ have to deal with it. If you were staying in my apartment here, I'd still say no," the Turk answered in a dry tone.

"...I guess that's true," Al agreed with a small nod, feeling warm suddenly. Maybe things weren't so different and he was really just feeling put out by no longer being the more 'mature' of the brothers, if that was the right word...

"How long have you been here?" Ed asked suddenly.

"Here?"

"On the Planet."

"Oh. I guess we're at the end of twenty-six days now."

"...Twenty-six days, and you're _still this_ poorly adapted to the world? What happened in that time? What happened with the Gate and Truth?"

"...I'll start at the beginning, then. We were planned and packed to go, all to get you, so we had some supplies. Almost everyone who could helped us with the array and gave us a safe place to set it up where no one would interfere with it. To power it, they gathered up what was left of one of the experiments Bradley had been doing—those sort of semi-Philosophers' Stones—so we could use those as our sacrifice. That got rid of the problem for them and helped us at the same time, so it worked out well. We were really all set, gathered on the array for those of us going, and the rest were standing around the edges of the room to see us off, then I activated it so we could go to the Gate and see Truth," Al explained, then sighed heavily.

"And what happened at the Gate?" the older blond asked, surprised.

"Truth was surprised, then amused. I said we wanted to go after you, all of us on the array when I activated it. Instead, Truth said I should really learn to stop playing God, but then it said, 'Well, since you have and things are not going as well as I had hoped, I intend to take matters into my own hands. Make your decision—give up forever on your brother, or press forward at the cost of your homeworld.' I didn't...I guess I didn't want to admit to myself what that meant, so I said we were going after you. Truth accepted, then the Gate opened and the hands came out to grasp us and everything went black for awhile."

Pausing, Al shook his head slowly again, then asked in wry amusement, "Got any drinks?"

Ed had to chuckle at that, then got up and went to the fridge. "You're lucky—drinks are the only thing we automatically get stocked here." He quickly returned with two drinks, looking at the can he'd chosen for Al in amusement for a moment before passing it to him. As he sat again, a puzzled Al (who clearly didn't know what to do with the can) waited for Eden to pop open his own drink before copying him and taking a drink.

"Hey, this is good," the younger blond blinked in surprise. He then looked up at his amused brother and asked, "What's so funny about my drink?"

"It's the same one Tseng always takes," the blond Turk replied.

"Oh...I'm surprised he likes something this sweet," Al commented, also looking a bit amused.

Eden shrugged and answered, "There aren't a lot of sweet things he likes, but the ones he does are—he can be obsessive about them. When the options are mainly carbonated drinks, he won't take anything but that one."

"Oh...Have you decided to start drinking milk, too, since so much else has changed?" the younger asked curiously.

"Nope," the older answered simply. "How about the rest of the story about what's happened in the four weeks or so you've been on the Planet?"

"Yeah...When we woke up, we were in that dead zone outside the city—"

"The wastes. Those are around all the towns where there's a Reactor."

"Oh, okay. So, we woke in the wastes in the middle of the day as far as we could tell, which had been around the time it would have been in Amestris. That was when we noticed our group had changed on us. We should have had seven, Winry, Mei—she said something about Envy and her not ditching us just because it's clean-up time—Fuery, Breda, Murray, Roach, and me. Instead, we got eleven—Winry, Mei, Murray, Roach, Miles, Fuery, Hawkeye, Mustang, Amal, Teacher, and me. With the change, even if all seven with supplies had arrived with us, we wouldn't have had enough. Truth...literally picked from everyone in the whole room, everyone who had just been seeing us off.

"Anyway, we were...southeast of the city—more east, though—and could only just see a metallic, dark spot on the horizon. In most directions, we couldn't see anything, so the dark spot seemed to be the best place to head for. We had to find civilization pretty quickly, after all, or we'd have been really screwed—we didn't even see any small creatures like rabbits we could kill and eat, and nothing grows in the wastes, so...Anyway, we took our time because we didn't want to rush and waste resources by straining ourselves, but we had to fight some of the weirdest—machines, sort of? They attacked us twice on our way the first day, then once on the second day just before we got here.

"Do you have _any idea_ how creepy this city is when you walk up to it and see this huge, metal and concrete structure above you?" Al asked plaintively, and Eden gave him a knowingly amused smile. "And the Slums stink pretty bad—but it's weird how quickly you get used to the smell down there. We walked in through a section of the wall which hadn't been built yet, the uniformed men at the hole let us through without even a glance. Then we really realized we had no idea what was going on, because we _knew_ the language, which should have been impossible, and we could read it, too."

"That happened to me, too," Ed agreed, running a hand back through his bangs. "I'm pretty sure that's one of the gifts Minerva gave us to make our lives easier. Go on."

"Well, so we had to try to find ways to get by and a place to live when the 'money' we'd had on us was useless here, but we didn't have ID, so we couldn't go on the train and up to the Upper Plate to look around or get work. Do you know why?"

"After the Wutain Invasion, security was increased and no one can travel between the Upper and Lower Plates without ID, so even the babies have to be issued a temporary, general ID of a sort. There are a few places criminals know about where you can go between the Plates without passing by a check-point, though."

"Oh, I guess that makes sense. When we found an old, abandoned warehouse, we used it as our home and began doing odd jobs, but the adults were really protective of us and the way we were living didn't change much. I kept going and drawing arrays on surfaces around the area which an alchemist would recognize and be able to use to find us—you, hopefully, but maybe someone who knew you. At first, I did a lot of them in random places, then began centering them around the warehouse, knowing you'd get the pattern. Winry often came with me for that, since I helped her carry things when she did repairs for people on their mechanics."

"So what Sector were you in? No one's told me, yet."

"...Two, I think, by the time we found the warehouse. We...came in near the border of Three and Four, if I remember right—it was pretty close to one of those support pillars right under the Reactor there, though we didn't know that until Aeris said it earlier. Anyway, we mostly did work in that Sector, but one day about two weeks ago, Winry and I were mugged while we were walking back from one of the laundry shops—like, you can do your laundry there for cheap? When we found there was a place like that, we were grateful, but—someone decided our clothes were worth something, I guess. They stole everything we had on us, and we only managed to get together enough money for one change each so we could get the other one washed. Totally not fun."

"I wouldn't think it would be," Ed agreed. "And then you were found by Genesis yesterday. What were the others doing that they weren't there? Out working?"

"I don't know about Teacher and Amal—he hasn't spent much time with us, really just checking in every couple days to let us know anything he'd found out or help out with funds or chores for a bit, mostly to see Mei—but the others were working. At least, they said they were, but probably only for part of the time they were out for. The Briggs guys were left to watch over us, Winry especially, since she can't protect herself."

"What have you actually found out about the world since arriving?"

"Besides how we can't use alchemy here and Materia are debilitating? Not much. There really aren't libraries in the Slums even though some people have some books, and we couldn't really go anywhere else. It was hard enough figuring out that the city we were in was called Midgar and that we were in one of the 'Sectors', or the old towns, which made it up. It was so not fun, and we really had nothing to do when there was no work—it wasn't like we could buy much besides food and the changes of clothes."

"Okay...Then I guess it really will be good for you to go to school, since it won't be strange for an Academy student to take out a geography book or a few. Them being so protective of you and you being stuck in the Slums also explains a lot about your lack of adaption."

"...There was something I wanted to ask, though."

"About what?"

"When we took out the second group of—machines—the first day, it was pretty late, so we stopped for the evening, and Winry started poking around at them. After a bit, though, they started...breaking down into little white-green lights of some sort. Do—"

"Pyreflies."

"...What?"

"The lights they break down into are called pyreflies. Those are bits of Lifestream detaching from a dead host or decaying object and returning to the Lifestream. That's why I can say with such certainty that this world has a sentient being watching over it and that the only reason there's even life here is because she willed it. Everything is physical enough, but when they break down, they don't become base minerals and elements, they revert to the energy form of the Lifestream and rejoin it. That's also why the genetic data of Jenova and Minerva are so intertwined.

"The only ways something doesn't revert to pyreflies—leather, for example—is either because something is anchoring it, because the 'object' was detached from the host before the host reverted to pyreflies, or something interferes with the process, like Minerva rejecting them because they're too evil. Even _clothes_ a person who died is wearing revert to Lifestream energy if you don't take them off the person before they start the transition to pyreflies."

"Then how could they even _have_ leather, or meat, or fur? Trapping would be useless in a world like this!"

"Unless you're right on your traps, it is. They have to actively hunt and cut up what they can carry right away. Anything they don't take with them, they know will be gone soon after, so they make an effort to set up their hunting and gathering groups to account for that. Or, they use live traps so whatever they caught is still alive when they get there, then kill it at that time. Either way, they can't wait long—put them out one day, go collect them the next in the case of live prey, and within an hour for dead."

"...So how are there even metals and minerals and gems to mine?"

"Because Minerva wills them to form. There's really no other reason for how soil away from Mako Reactors stays healthy and mineral and nutrient rich, it just _does_. They don't even use fertilizers, and any attempts at fertilizing the wastes has resulted in nothing—even the so-called fertilizers have no proper minerals or nutrients by the time they try to grow plants in it."

"...So because there's no Lifestream around the Reactors, nutrients don't exist, either?"

"In short."

"That's so strange..."

"Sure is, but you get used to it after awhile."

"...On another topic, do you know if we handle Materia in the Materia class?"

"No, but probably, because that's one of the 'basic combat classes' the Military Academy students are required to take. You'll need gloves and a bracer—I'll get you a Wizard Bracelet and some Materia from the local shop. Speaking of Materia, I have a project I want you to help me work on once you know more about the world."

"What kind of project?" Al asked curiously.

"First, give me a minute," Eden said, then pulled out his PHS, found Zack's number, and dialed it.

When Zack answered after the second ring, he asked curiously, "Did you need something else from me, Eden?"

"Yeah, something just occurred to me and I think I need you to focus on some Mastering—for a huge number of people—for me," the Turk answered, sounding amused.

"What kind?" the SOLDIER First asked, sounding even more curious.

"Come by my apartment and I'll explain that part."

"Will do—I'll be there in about half an hour."

"Got it," Eden agreed, then hung up and looked at Al for a moment before leaning down to remove the boot of his flesh leg so he could pull off the bracer on his ankle. Dropping it on the table so Al could see it, he said, "This is 'armor' called a Wizard Bracelet officially, and this one lets you slot eight at a time. There are other kinds of bracers, but I'm showing you this one in particular because it has the Materia I want Zack to Master for me on it—Final Attack and Revive. (2) Put it on—Zack will still take half an hour, so you'll have time to look at the Materia through the bracer."

Tentatively, the younger blond took the item and put it carefully around his wrist, tightening it into place as he asked, "What's with all the colors and those little bars between them?"

Eden explained the five types of Materia to his brother, and Al was finished securing it by then. As such, he went on, "Reach your mind out to them like we do with Comprehension. Right now, what do you get back from them?"

For a moment, Al frowned in puzzlement, eyes shifting from orb to orb as he did as requested. Finally, he answered, "Just their names and the spell names on the green—Magic—ones. But, it sort of feels like it's a door that's only open a crack, like I could push on it and it would move."

"Good. Pick one and 'push the door open' until you can see the arrays in full form. That usually means almost all the way open. You might want to close your eyes for this part, though, because you'll want to examine the arrays in detail, sub-arrays and all."

Al did as requested, sitting quietly for several minutes with his eyes closed as he assessed the arrays he now had access to. His eyes opened wide, then he asked, "How do I turn it off?"

"'Close the door' again," Eden answered in mild amusement. The younger blond did, then heaved a sigh of relief. "Well?"

The boy across from him took a moment to gather his thoughts, then said, "I guess I know what you mean now, especially about the rules of Revive, but why did you want me to do this?"

"Because I want you to help me work on fusing several of them together—say Fire, Ice, Lightning, and Earth—so all four can be accessed in one Materia shard. I have some notes and preliminary data I can organize into paperwork you can use to start from, and the Academy Library should have more data available in books if there's things you need to clarify. It'll help me a lot if you can take even that one project off my hands, because in all honesty, I just don't have the time to work on it with everything else I have to do."

"Huh...I guess that sounds pretty interesting, actually," Al agreed, then slipped the bracer off to return it to Ed. "So, how do we start?"

 **Notes:**

(1) This use of 'Scar' is very deliberate to separate the cold State Alchemist killer from Amal, who is more like a friend, even if aloof. It was 'Scar' who killed Nina, not Amal, and there's no guarantee Amal would take the same course of actions in a similar situation a second time. My thought is that he would take every situation independently, not allocate them all to one singular solution—an action which still is so different from Scar that Amal would still essentially be a different person with the same name and history.

(2) Because I'm sure no one remembers what Ed put on this Wizard Bracelet (or any of his other gear, for that matter), here's a reminder of what he has on all his gear as of the last time he actively sorted them out on his way to Corel in the helicopter with Reno. A slash means it's paired, a comma means it's not paired:

Wizard Bracelet (right ankle): Final Attack/Revive, Full Cure/All, Mirage/All, Aerial Attack, Long Range Attack (these last two are in linked slots, but don't form a pair)

Wizard Bracelet (right wrist): Heal/All, Time, Guard Plus, Health Plus, Speed Plus, Magic Plus, Strength Plus (the last six are in linked slots, but don't form pairs)

Heartseeker (dagger): Odin, Alexander, Sylph, Carbuncle, Elemental/Gravity, Enemy Skill, Float (these last two are in linked slots, but don't form a pair)

Storm Warning (sword): Poison/Added Effect, Transform, Fire, Ice, Lightning, and Earth, W Summon (the last six are in linked slots, but don't form pairs)

Kaiser Knuckles ('gloves'): Shiva, Ifrit, Titan, Ramuh, Sense, Manipulate, Restore/All

He has one more bracer on his upper left arm with 4 slots for the shards of Zirconaide.

The first Wizard Bracelet is the one he gives to Al.

 **Answer to the issue of Ed citing Japan:**

No, I didn't just pull that out of my hat. In the manga (I don't think it was shown in the anime), there's a scene at the end of one of the graphic novels which shows several of the soldiers (Havoc, Breda, Fuery, a few other random guys), playing shogi and talking about how it was a strategic game from Japan. By that scene, they're well aware of Japan, but they don't 'interact' with it in the course of the story line we're given. Ed, as a military officer, would have to know at least basic data about it—size, location, their status to Amestris, probably resources they would want from there. By the soldiers playing shogi, they had to have either gone to Japan or met someone from there and known them fairly well, making that a valid assessment for Ed to use.

Of course, their Japan is probably not exactly identical to our world's Japan in things like culture, but many of the land masses, for what we know of them, are very similar to ours, so 'Japan' should be, too.

Also, I'm using this comparison (Japan's size to Gaia's) based on how long it generally takes to walk from place to place in Japan versus how long it takes to traverse the world of Gaia on foot—about the same length of time when going to certain key cities in Japan. That was how I assessed the estimated size of the world...because the whole FFVII main game actually only takes place in 6 weeks, which means that world would have to be only about the size of Japan for them to walk that distance in so short a time. Or, I guess I could use the United Kingdoms (our world's) for that comparison (I think their land space is similar, just laid out differently, but Japan is still larger), but there is DEFINITELY no reference to them at all in FMA:B/manga, so it wasn't someplace I could tangibly name from his world.


	16. 13-Materia Arrangements

Materia Arrangements

The two blonds discussed the issues with the Fusion Materia in detail (Eden even passed the Bolt Blade fusion on to Al) until a knock sounded on the door, causing Ed to get up and answer it. Zack was on the other side, holding a small bag and grinning. As he stepped inside and closed the door behind him, the black haired young man asked, "So, what did you need? That's more Mastered elements, by the way."

"Thanks," Eden grinned, taking the bag and leading the way back to the table, where Al was thoughtfully drawing arrays out in miniature on some papers in front of him. The Turk picked up the bracer where his Revive and Final Attack were, pulled those two out, and offered them to Zack.

When the black haired sixteen-year-old took them, his jaw fell open before he asked, "You have Final Attack? Really? Holy!"

With a snort, the blond answered, "Obviously I have it because you're holding it. Here's the thing—I want you to start Mastering a bunch of those so people like Mei and Al, Winry, Shelke, Tseng, Genesis, Reeve, and you can have access to them. Obviously, it's a pretty long list, because I'd even include some of the Gaia's Refuge people and—well—all our allies. This is specific to having it paired with Revive or with Phoenix—you'll need to talk with Genesis about Mastering those. In the meantime, you need to Master them so you can give me back my originals, and if you can manage by morning, I'd like a pair for both Al and Mei. We'll work from there."

"Give me a sec to check my timing on it," Zack agreed, then closed his eyes at Eden's nod. The orbs he held pulsed for a few moments each, first the blue one then the green one, then he opened his eyes again. "Okay, you've had those two for so long it'll take me about forty minutes for Final Attack and—maybe fifteen for Revive? Maybe less even. I can do those right now. If I start doing this, the most I'll be able to get done in one night is three, if I do two Final Attacks and a Revive. I'd probably wind up with about the same from switching Revive with Phoenix. Your best bet is to buy some new Revives for people to build on their own while I work on the Final Attacks, then on Phoenix once I have that one. Want me to start now?"

"Hey, Ed," Al suddenly asked, looking confused as he eyed the two. When they looked at him, he said, "I _know_ how much energy you have. Why aren't _you_ Mastering them quickly, too?"

"Because I have something on me which drains my energy all the time," Eden replied dryly. "And if I'm not careful, it could drain me dry—as in, kill me."

"Then why do you keep it on you?" the younger blond asked, just looking more confused, even as Zack's eyes widened in alarm.

"You never mentioned that before," the SOLDIER said, gazing at the Turk sharply.

Eden waved them off and said, "I hadn't been aware of it until Rufus pointed it out to me awhile back. I've been monitoring my energy levels since then. And for the record, I _have_ to keep it on me until I have a way to fix it. That's part of the deal I made with the Summon so it didn't just go on a rampage and slaughter everyone."

"...Does anyone know?" Zack asked softly.

"Tseng, Rude, Vant, Genesis, Rufus, Felicia, and Shears. The two of you now. Aeris and her mother. Fuhito. I'd really rather the circle who knew not get bigger."

"Fuhito?" Al asked in alarm as Zack's expression became worried.

"Well, he knows I stole one from him when I knocked him out during the Wutain Invasion. I don't know if he has any idea of the deal or anything, he just knows I have the one he used to own," the blond Turk replied. "And yes, he'll probably try to get it back at some point. For now, he hasn't tried, so I guess there's other things he wants to do while he bides his time, and a lot of that probably has to do with the Ravens."

He paused, then turned back to Zack and said, "Anyway, yes, please Master them now. I'd still like the kids to have Mastered Revives, because death is _fucking painful_ , and being revived by Life instead of Life 2 is equivalent to torture—I know _that_ for a fact. An adult I might be willing to put through that, especially if they know what it'll be like, but there's no way I'm doing it to kids like Al and Shelke, who have already suffered more than enough."

After a silence, Zack gave a small smile and said, "Okay, I can see your point. I'm guessing Winry, Yufi, and Aeris will be getting Mastered Revives as well as Shelke, Al, and Mei?"

"They will, along with all our other kids—Genesis can give you the complete list of who 'our kids' are—and you might want to just ask Anthony and Cloud if they want Mastered ones, since they sort of are and sort of aren't our kids anymore."

"Those are the new SOLDIER Cadets you and Sephiroth found?"

"Yeah."

"I'll ask them, and talk to Genesis about the other kids. If I work on just Revive, I can probably do—about six of them in one sitting overnight at this point. I can do more than that of ones like Fire now. (1) It's Final Attack that takes the time because it takes a huge amount of energy to Master—it's like Shield that way, and the _most_ I'd get done in a night is three if I have a long night to work on it, rather than the length I usually have, and even that's pushing it."

"Could you push for the two pairs of Final Attack and Revive I'd like for Al and Mei tonight, then do the rest as you feel up to it? Also, if you start talking with Genesis and Tseng about stock-piling Mastered Materia, they may need you to provide other kinds as well, so you may not be able to get done any more than the kids," Eden attempted to barter at least for that much. For the kids who already knew about the world, it wasn't quite as big of a deal because they knew how to take care of themselves, but the ones from Amestris were at a disadvantage, and at least Winry was _safe_ as long as she was in Reeve's office.

Zack paused to assess that, then gave a small nod and said, "I can probably do it if I start now. I'll sit down and get your originals back to you, then. Where can I find you tomorrow, since I'll probably be working until part-way through breakfast?"

"Either the cafeteria or the Academy," Eden told him. "Thanks, Zack."

"No prob," the black haired teen grinned, picking a chair in the living room and sitting down to begin working on his Mastering of the two Materia he held.

"So..." Al began, eying Zack oddly for a moment before looking back at his older brother. "What's the difference between a Mastered Materia and one which isn't?"

"Stability," the blond Turk answered, reaching into the bag Zack had given him to find a Mastered element he could use as an example. The first one he found was Gravity. He put it down on the table, then pulled out his dagger to get the Gravity off it. Those, he put into the two empty slots on his bracer and pushed it over to Al. "One's Mastered, one isn't. They're both Gravity. Tell me how they differ."

Again, the younger brother slipped the bracer on, then searched for the data for both of the new Materia on it. After several minutes, he blinked, then said, "You're right, the Mastered one is way more stable and the energy flows completely in the proper channels. Every array and sub-array is integrated, so there's no useless data floating around, either. But, you can also see—the blank space data could fill."

"Exactly," Eden grinned. "That's why I think my experiment has to be done with Mastered ones—because Mastered ones acknowledge that there's space nothing's filling, and things could possibly fill that space. Of course, though, some of them have different terms, and there are some Materia which can't be fused, but we have to work that out by noting differences and seeing _how_ they fuse when we start that stage. We just can't use Summons—Minerva's request."

The younger boy pulled off the bracer and pushed it back over to Eden, then asked, "Why don't you have time to do this research and work on this project yourself?"

"Partly my work as a Turk—we almost never have slow days—and part of it is...my crusade to save the world. Things like figuring out how to re-supply the Lifestream with energy before it gets depleted, how to detach a Materia shard from a woman's arm without killing her, or how to switch to a new power supply without the President throwing a fit, all while not activating Chaos or Omega. This would be really helpful, but it's—not going to make or break the world, so I have to set it aside," the Turk answered with a sigh.

"Hey, Eden," Zack called in an absent tone.

"Yeah?" he asked over his shoulder curiously.

"Get the Science Department to work on returning energy to the Lifestream. Well, after Reeve's changes to the Reactors are complete," the black haired sixteen-year-old offered, still sounding absent.

"You think they can be trusted to do that?" Eden scowled.

"Why not? I think they'd be all for it if they knew there would be more Mako to take from the Lifestream as a result," the SOLDIER First pointed out, still working intently on the glowing orb he held—the green one.

"This isn't something just anyone can do or study, Zack."

"Maybe not, but—what's actually needed to figure it out?"

"How to revert Mastered Materia to an energy form the Lifestream can reabsorb. It's an extensive scientific study which has to be done in a short time to have any effect, and—"

"Eden, does it _require_ the people doing it to know the arrays, or just Materia?"

"...I guess just Materia..."

"Then let the Science Department people figure it out. One less thing for you to do. You can even keep track of how it's going, either directly or indirectly."

"But then they could turn it into some sort of sick human experiment!"

"As far as I know, Hojo's done what he's going to of Materia experiments, and you don't actually have to hand it to him—there's also Doctors Kedran and Blythe (2), those two who used to be with Deepground. Also, this one can't really be turned into any kind of human experiment, so the only people likely to have an interest in it are the ones especially interested in Materia and magic."

At Eden's frustrated sigh, Zack's lips quirked in an absent grin and an amused Al commented, "Ownership issues aren't really productive right now, Ed."

"Ownership?" Zack asked, expression absently bemused—then fully bemused as the Revive Mastered, he caught the new baby, and tossed the Mastered one back to the blond Turk. He then looked curiously at Al as he held the blue orb in his hand for a moment, waiting on the answer before starting his work on it.

"Eden created the idea, so he's sort of possessive of it," Al answered.

"Really?" the black haired teen asked in surprise. "But he'll let you work on one of his projects he's possessive of?"

"We grew up working on projects together, so that's not really an issue for us—if it belongs originally to me, it belongs to him just as much, and the reverse is true, too," the younger blond explained. "He can give it to me because he already knows what he's going to get. But back home—in Amestris—sharing your ideas about alchemy with other alchemists was usually a bad idea or they'd steal it and take credit for your work. It wasn't something you did unless you trusted the one you were giving it to, you were registered as literal partners on the project so both or all participants would get full credit for it, or you just didn't care about credit. We wouldn't normally hand the data off to anyone but each other—or Teacher, I guess."

"Teacher?" Zack asked curiously.

"Sora's opponent if it comes to that," Ed replied. "And yes, Al's right. I'm a little possessive of my idea. In this case, it's more very real fear of what it could be made into rather than just because I want to keep my ownership of it—but that's still part of it."

The SOLDIER looked amused again as he said, "I kinda get that, on both points, but like you said—you don't have enough time to work on it, and we have to start finding solutions to these problems very soon. The last project you mentioned, to save that woman, can you even get anyone else to work on that one?"

"Not really. It's me and Genesis because it's so deeply involved in array workings and things I wouldn't want to drop Al into anytime soon, and we're already working on it. Genesis and I have to keep it, and it's hard getting enough time to work on it around our respective jobs," the blond Turk admitted tiredly.

"And it can't be put off?"

"No."

"So it makes more sense to hand off the Materia-to-Lifestream project, especially because it's probably the thing you're least possessive of out of the list."

"...I'll think about it, and how to keep an eye on it, at least."

"Well, that's a start!" Zack grinned, then turned his attention to Final Attack.

"For your Fusion Materia project, is it okay if I bring in Mei and maybe Teacher?" Al asked his brother suddenly.

"Sure, as long as I'm still in the loop," Eden agreed. "And at least that keeps it in the hands of Amestrians, who aren't about to try destroying the world."

"Not the ones who came here, at least," the younger blond agreed. "How have you kept your fighting skills up?"

With a shrug, the Turk replied, "They've been kept up, but compared to the last time you saw me in Amestris—I don't know. I haven't noticed anything in particular except that I haven't gotten much opportunity to use spears lately. It's not practical with the Materia I have to have handy. Speaking of—if you need to have gloves, bracers, and Materia ready for tomorrow so Zack will be able to find us at the Academy, I should probably call Anthony so he can pick us up some things."

"Why can't we go do it?" Al blinked.

"You heard Tseng—we have to stay out of sight until the others get here," Eden replied. "You'll have the Academy as your cover during the day tomorrow, but the rest of our time has to be either here or out in the city somewhere they aren't likely to see us. And calling Anthony means you'll be able to meet him and ask him—and probably Cloud, too, if he wants to move in with the two of you—about that cat you want."

"...Oh. I guess so..." Al agreed, so Eden pulled out his PHS and found Anthony's number.

It was answered a few rings later by a very confused-sounding Anthony as he asked, "What are you calling me for, Eden?" The background noise mostly stopped at the question.

"Were you busy?" Eden asked in reply, sounding amused.

"No, we were sort-of partying in the Cadet rooms. There were so few Cadets this round that there are two or three to rooms which usually hold six, so we moved to the hall with a few Turk—hopefuls—to party. I thought you'd call Cloud, though," the younger boy explained.

"I thought so, too!" Cloud called from the background.

Eden snorted and told Anthony, "I probably would have, except that I don't have his PHS number. Anyway, because Al and I are stuck in my apartment until further notice, I'd like you and Cloud to stop by so I can get you to run an errand for me."

"Who's Al, and what kind of errand?" Anthony asked curiously.

"You'll have to stop by to find out," the Turk answered in amusement.

The younger teen gave a small huff, then said, "Hang on a sec."

"Sure."

Eden heard Anthony's phone being moved and covered by something, then heard a soft murmur of voices for a minute. Shortly after, it was uncovered and the fourteen-year-old said, "Okay, we'll be there in a few."

"See you soon, then," the blond agreed, then hung up. His gaze went to Al as he said, "Anthony and Cloud will be here soon." When Al nodded, Ed's gaze went to Zack as he asked, "Hey, Zack, do you know whether others can use my bank card if I give it to them?"

"They can, but if they buy something which is out of character for you, you'll probably get a call asking if you approved the purchase," Zack answered absently. "Yours is pretty new, though, right?"

"Yeah."

"They might not call, just send you a statement because it was used. They don't know your habits yet."

"That's fine, thanks."

Al handed the bracer back to his brother and went back to drawing miniature arrays on the papers in front of him while Eden fixed his Materia positions and went back to reading until Anthony and Cloud got there. The knock came not much later, so Ed went to open the door, letting in the black and blond haired boys who wore the SOLDIER Cadet uniform in dark red (3). Once the door was closed, he led them over to where Al sat at the table, noting the exchange of curious gazes.

"So, over on my couch is SOLDIER First Class Zack Fair—he's busy right now, though—and this over here is Alphonse Elric," Eden said as he motioned at his brother.

The two blinked in surprise, but it was Cloud who said, "Elric is the name you introduced yourself to us with in Nibelheim. Is he your brother, then?"

"Younger brother, yes. He's fifteen," Eden agreed with a grin at their shocked expressions. "And Al, these two are new SOLDIER Cadets named Anthony Valentine and Cloud Strife."

"Nice to meet you," Al told the two with a small smile. The other two echoed the greeting, still seeming a little puzzled.

"And what did you need us for?" Cloud asked cautiously.

"There's an incident-in-progress we need to stay out of sight for, so I need you two to go down to the shop, get two Wizard Bracelets, two Grand Gloves, and a list of Materia, two of each to act as starters for Al and a girl from Wutai who is starting at the Academy tomorrow with him," Eden explained, reaching over to grab a sheet of paper to start writing the list of what he wanted them to buy.

"Yufi?" Anthony asked with a puzzled expression. (4)

"No, her name's Mei, and Tseng's taking guardianship of her," the blond Turk answered a bit absently as he wrote. "We were also going to work out new living arrangements for all of you so you'd be able to stay close to Shalua and Shelke without six to eight of you—with Tifa and Cloud—living in a three-bedroom apartment."

"I'm going to stay here in the Cadet room," Cloud answered right away. "And what are we going to buy all those things with? They aren't cheap and we don't have a paycheck until we complete the Cadet program."

"I'll give you my bank card to make the purchases I need," Eden answered. "So, a two-bedroom apartment for Anthony and Al as close as possible to Shalua and Shelke's, right? That makes things easier. Al, you had a question for your roommate?"

"Oh, yeah..." Al began, looking a little embarrassed. "I wanted to get a cat, but Eden made the point of saying I had to discuss that with whoever I'm going to be living with—you. Are you okay having a cat?"

Anthony made a face and asked, "Are you talking about a real cat or another Cait Sith?"

"A real one," the blond fifteen-year-old answered, sounding very amused.

"I can live with that. Again, how do we pay for it?" the black haired fourteen-year-old asked, gaze going to Eden.

"I'm covering for you and Al," Eden answered right away, looking up. "I'll probably also be covering the first month of a place for Winry and Tifa, again in the same building. Anyway, here's the list of starter Materia I want for Al and Mei from the shops—Fire, Ice, Lightning, Earth, Gravity, Poison, Restore, Heal, All, Elemental, Added Effect, Sense, and Manipulate. I noted the weapons and bracers, too, all of them as doubles." He handed the paper to Anthony, then pulled out his bank card and offered it to the fourteen-year-old as well.

"Okay, that sounds easy enough," Cloud agreed as he took the list to read it over. "We'll be back soon, then. And thanks for taking care of Tifa for me."

"Of course," Eden agreed with a grin. "Thanks for your help with this, you two. Now, you should head out to the shop before it closes because it's getting pretty late."

"Probably," Cloud agreed. "We'll be back later, then."

"Al, when you want to go find the cat, let me know so I can go with you," Anthony said as Cloud headed for the door.

"I'll do that—when you come back, we should trade phone numbers," Al agreed.

"Yeah, since even Eden needs one of our numbers," the black haired Cadet said wryly, giving a wave. Cloud also gave a wave, then opened the door so the two could leave.

Once the door was closed, Al asked, "So...why thirteen Materia, fifteen if I count Revive and Final Attack? Where will I put them all?"

"You don't have to put them all on. You have fifteen in total so you have a couple to switch off on your gloves and bracer if you want. The bracer has eight, the gloves four, so you'll be able to wear twelve—these are just for you to get started with. Not counting the one I have to keep on me—which is actually four fragmented pieces—I have forty slotted and a few I can switch off if I want. Switching off based on a situation can be very useful. I'll tell you more about the slots once we have everything here."

"Oh, okay. But maybe you should wait until we meet Mei tomorrow so you can tell us both at the same time?" Al offered.

The Turk paused, then nodded and said, "That's probably a really good idea so I don't lose my temper with repeating myself. I'm already doing enough of that lately." Al just chuckled as Zack grinned in absent amusement.

It took about twenty minutes for the two Cadets to get back and give the bag of requested items and Eden's bank card back to him—Anthony informed him he'd bought one other Materia for himself as well, and offered to pay back the cost, but Eden waved him off. They also exchanged PHS numbers.

As the two younger boys were about to leave, Zack announced in something like relief, "Done!" The others all turned to look as he caught a blue Materia. He then tossed the Mastered original of Final Attack to the blond Turk and rose as he said, "I'll head home to finish Mastering the first four, and I'll get them to you in the morning. For the rest after that, I'll keep you updated on my progress and the order I've decided to use. You and Genesis might want to discuss how many people—besides you and him—will have a Phoenix on hand so you can give me an initial number. See ya!" Zack then left the apartment with the baby Revive and Final Attack in hand.

"...What just happened?" Cloud asked in amazed confusion once the door had closed behind the First.

"Zack can Master a Materia like Fire in under an hour now, so he's helping me out with some things I need to get done," Eden explained in amusement. "You'll both get benefits from that, too, it'll just take longer. Anyway, have a good night at your hall party."

With some last parting words, the two left and Ed and Al could go back to the Fusion Materia project.

 **Notes:**

(1) This is Zack's max ability to Master, and NO, he DOESN'T do this every night, just when his energy levels start interfering with his focus—or when someone asks him to. Usually, he would pick a Materia or two (one of the elements, for example) and Master one or two before he goes to bed. He just pushes every now and then to see where his limits are with different Materia with different Mastering requirements. My excuse for why he didn't show signs of this Mastering ability in Crisis Core or any other FFVII games/animes/etc. is because, very simply, Genesis (and Angeal for that matter) went insane before making the suggestion, so all he ever did was have it on him to absorb energy naturally. Natural absorption is much (s)lower than what he's doing.

(2) Random family names I picked for these Deepground women because they'll be used on occasion throughout the rest of the story, though I don't think they need to personally become involved.

(3) I picked dark red because while I used the Crisis Core SOLDIER uniform colors, the main game had red as one of the colors for a SOLDIER. Even if I'm not placing it with the same rank as in FFVII—hey, it already existed in the system, so I didn't have to think of another color or a reason to use it.

(4) Does anyone want to see a scene (insert) of why Anthony is citing Yufi here, or is it sufficient to say she's hanging around Shelke, and he's still absurdly protective of her and Shalua?


	17. 14-Key Arrays

Key Arrays

For most of the rest of the evening, the brothers worked on the Fusion Materia project. When they got tired, they both crashed in Eden's bed—it was probably large enough for three grown men (of average build, at least) to sleep on comfortably, even if the mattress itself was very basic. The night passed fairly quickly, though Ed noticed more than once when Al got up for several minutes or tossed and turned restlessly.

What woke Eden in the morning, though, was a call coming in on his PHS. Absently, he answered it with, "Yeah?" as he draped an arm over his eyes tiredly. His body was feeling that damned ache again—he'd thought he'd finished with it when it had vanished over the course of the day yesterday with his movement.

"Can you meet me over breakfast so I can run something by you on Felicia's behalf?" Genesis asked, sounding wide awake and almost amused.

With a groan, Eden moved his arm, pulled his phone away from his face to check the screen for the time, saw how it was seven thirty in the morning, put the PHS back to his ear, and asked, " _Now_?"

"I won't get to the cafeteria until about eight, but you and Al could meet us at Angeal's for breakfast, since he offered to cook for us if enough of us stayed," the red haired man informed him.

"I got Zack to Master some Materia for me, and I said the cafeteria or the Academy," Eden answered, sitting up. "But really, a home-cooked meal sounds good. Is he good at cooking?"

"Very. Zack won't be done the second Support you wanted him to do until ten or so—you'll be at the Academy by then," Genesis answered. "And he crashed at Angeal's last night rather than his own place, so we've been keeping track of him. You'll be able to check with him personally if you want."

"Okay, then, we'll head over to Angeal's for breakfast. We probably still won't get there until around eight, though," the Turk offered.

"Good enough. I'll let him know, and see you soon," the Commander agreed with a grin, then hung up.

"What was _that_ about?" Al asked tiredly as he rolled over to look at his brother. He hadn't slept well and it showed.

"Angeal has invited a bunch of us over for breakfast. Zack and Genesis will be there for sure, and the two of us. I'd bet Sephiroth as well if he's still here. Anyone else, I don't know about, but I'd say Sora is a possibility."

"Mind if I shower first? Maybe it'll help me wake up," Al commented as he levered himself up.

"Go for it," the older blond agreed, running a hand through his hair—it currently fell loosely around him—while looking for another number in his PHS. Al found a change of clothes from the ones he'd gotten from Elmyra the day before, then went into the bathroom, closing the door as Eden selected the number he wanted.

As soon as it was answered—on the first ring—Tseng's voice came to him, saying, "No, they didn't turn up again last night. Yes, that means I want you to stay out of sight. I'll have Mei to the Academy by nine. Was that everything, Eden?"

In spite of himself, Eden had to laugh at the older man, but he said, "All but one thing. Nicely done, Boss."

"And the one thing I missed?" the Wutain asked in a tone which clearly implied he was raising a brow.

"Can I go open an account at the bank for Al, or does that have to go through an alternate source?"

"The Academy will set him up with one, but you can set up an allowance to be transferred from your account to his at whatever intervals you determine. No one will know which Turk's account it's coming from, just that it _is_ a Turk's," Tseng explained.

"Why would the Academy set him up with an account?" Eden blinked in surprise.

"Because he's there on scholarship, and the account is where the funds for things like meals, supplies, and uniform purchases go to—and come out from."

"I see," the younger Turk murmured. "So my transferring money to his account would just give him extra spending money?"

"Largely. You can also have some of it set to supplement the scholarship so he has access to better-quality resources and things on that line. For example, instead of having to take an older, possibly out-dated book, he would be able to get the newest one with the updated information, or borrow the student's VR room or holographic projector for assignments or presentations. It doesn't change his in-class lessons, just the resources he can use outside of it," the older Turk filled in. "I'm going to arrange that for Mei when I drop her off with you."

"I'd go for that, too, if you think it'll affect how well he'll do in lessons," Eden said.

"It will to some degree. How much depends on him."

"Okay, thanks for filling me in, and I'll see you around nine."

"Of course." The man then hung up, so Eden did as well. He then began gathering the things he needed to have a shower himself.

Soon after, Al was done, so he took his turn and just left his hair down to dry as he grabbed the bag of goods from the shop and led the way down to Angeal's room. When he knocked on the door, Genesis opened it and gave the brothers a grin as he motioned them inside. As they stepped in, he shut the door. It was obvious at a glance that Zack was present as he lay sprawled on his back on the couch, the glowing, shifting blue Materia in his hand and eyes closed. Angeal and Sephiroth were in the kitchen and called greetings to the two, which they answered.

Angeal's apartment had the same floor and walls as all the others, but he had gone for one couch and two chairs across a coffee table which were clearly a matched set, a large, rectangular kitchen table, and eight kitchen chairs. The couch and chairs were in a medium-to-dark green with some medium brown wood and a pattern which looked like purple vines and apples along the hems, the table in the same wood with edges carved in the same vine and apple pattern. The kitchen table and chairs were in a similar color of wood, simple and with cushions in black to tie in to his kitchen appliances.

"So, you wanted to talk with me, Genesis?" Eden asked, facing the red haired man.

"Yes. I was looking at the arrays for Zirconaide again and saw something—off, and I wanted to talk with you about it before going any further," the man agreed. "And I found some arrays you need to have a look at. But first, can I see the shards again?"

The Turk blinked, then gave a nod and pulled off his suit jacket and rolled his sleeve up to get to the bracer he had on his upper arm with the four Zirconaide fragments on it. He pulled it off and handed it to the red haired man, who took it over to one of the plush chairs and sat, fingers trailing over the blue fragments. On the coffee table in front of him, there was a stack of papers which Eden recognized immediately as the arrays for Zirconaide, and Al moved over to begin flipping through them curiously.

After a minute, Genesis' eyes snapped open and he said, "That's what I thought." He tossed the bracer back to Eden and grabbed the stack Al was still going through (causing the boy to pull back in surprise), then called, "Seph, come move the chairs and coffee table so I have more room, would you, please?"

"You cannot?" Sephiroth asked in amusement from where he was working on something on the counter next to the stove.

"I'll lose my train of thought, and I can't afford that right now," the red haired SOLDIER replied absently as he began laying out the sheets from the stack on the living room floor across from where the chairs and coffee table were. Eden began tying the bracer back on as he watched Genesis work.

Al blinked, then moved over to push one of the chairs over to the wall and as far into the corner as he could. His next item to try to move was the coffee table, but while he was trying to drag it, it was suddenly lifted, making him look up at Sephiroth. The man gave him a faintly amused smile as Eden chuckled, then the silver haired man put the coffee table down against the balcony doors. The younger blond was shocked by how easily the General had moved the heavy, wood table, but no one else was surprised. It only took another minute for the other chair to be put in the opposite corner near the bedroom door.

Sephiroth then retreated back to the kitchen to keep working on their food. "We are nearly done the meal," he alerted them as he did.

"Thanks for moving the things," Genesis answered absently as he kept laying out the arrays for the five shards. Several minutes later, as the meal was being put on the table, the Commander finished laying out every array, then stood up straight and turned to face Eden as he pointed to three separate arrays near where he stood and near the outer rim of the circle. "First, the easier thing because it may well tie in to the second result. There are seven of this array in particular, and when they're laid out like this, it's obvious both that they're identical and at very specific points around the circle—and they all resisted being broken, even though three of them should have and show some damage. I think they're one of the key components we'll need to change."

Eden quickly traced those seven and their locations, then gave a slow nod and said, "Looks like they're laid out to form a seven-point array, which are some of the hardest and most complex to work with—I've only done it twice, myself. If this is a seven-point array, we'll have our work cut out for us and everything we do to move the broken arrays will have to be very specific. Since we're on the topic, have a look at a few of these others—this set of three identical arrays in each shard I have and these three in the one Felicia has." He pointed to three arrays from each of the five sections, where four of the sets were identical and the one in the middle was similar but notably different.

"I was comparing multiple Materia arrays and found that these three sub-arrays exist in each one, with only fairly minor differences," Eden explained while Genesis examined them. "Since I have some of all five types, the more I looked, the more I realized these aren't functional so much as formative. I actually don't understand every mark written in to them, and I can only guess at the complete meaning, because the notations they have are basically single words which are disconnected.

"However, there were some words I realized could very well be defining what 'type' of Materia they are, because they're ones like 'casting', 'skill', 'assist', and 'calling'—other words for Magic, Command, Support, and Summon. Also, every single Materia of that type has these in identical form—every one of my Supports has these three in exactly this way, and every one of my Summons has Felicia's three exactly that way."

Genesis then gave a nod and said, "Then I was right and there are _three_ circles here. The largest is the—seven-point array you noted. That's this one here," he said as he motioned to the outer rim of the largest circle which was obviously visible. He then drew in a deep breath and pointed to the middle of the complete array and said, "In the shard Felicia has, that circle is present, and it's a three-point. We just never laid it out properly in the correct format before."

He looked up at Eden then and said, "But one of the things we kept missing was that there's also a five-point array between the two." Genesis pointed to a section about one array outwards from where the arrays in Felicia's fragment ended and traced the circle in the air with his finger. "It wasn't until you told me about things like writing an array into a city that I realized we completely missed the obvious points of the _actual_ base functionality arrays.

"Everything we were taking as the arrays were just sub-arrays overlapping the three base ones, and the central array _isn't_ the one in the middle of Felicia's, it's the three-point array using those sub-arrays clustered in the middle—six, or two by three. The three-point array is overlapping a star, not even a six-point star, but a five-point star. The five-point array has fully twenty-five arrays forming it, including those indicators of yours, and the seven-point array has all the rest—or one hundred and forty-seven of them. This also shows us twenty-one arrays which are broken, and three of those are overlapping Felicia's plus two of these, broken three ways, not two. Are you seeing this as well, or is it just me?" (1)

"Can you two do that _after_ we eat?" Angeal asked in an amused tone. "Come on, Zack, take a quick break to get some food in your body."

"Fine, fine," Zack sighed faintly, then the glow of the Materia in his hand stopped and he sat up—only to stop and stare at the mess on Angeal's living room floor.

Eden and Genesis, meanwhile, were both standing where they were, Eden's gaze thoughtfully on the arrays spread out on the floor and Genesis' on the blond Turk's. Al, on the other hand, was sitting on the edge of the coffee table as he eyed the whole system in complete confusion and curiosity. After a moment, Ed's hand moved up to his mouth and his other arm propped up the connected elbow, the sixteen-year-old's gaze intent on the arrays as he calculated the details in his head and seriously compared his knowledge to what Genesis was proposing.

"You know, you're probably right," he said at last.

"And the food's getting cold," Angeal commented dryly. "Zack, Al, to the table. Eden, Genesis, at least sit down and eat if you're going to keep discussing that."

The first two young men rose and carefully made their way around the papers, even as Al commented, "Now I know why you didn't think it would be a good idea to hand this to me, because I honestly don't have a clue what this is all about."

Eden gave a nod and made his way to the table, too, as he replied, "It's not the sort of thing someone new to Materia jumps right in to." Genesis followed him as Eden dropped the bag of items he'd had the Cadets buy the night before beside his seat, and soon all six men were sitting around the table, taking food and eating.

The two blond brothers both praised Angeal's and Sephiroth's skills at cooking, especially impressed because it was the first time they were getting to taste it. Of course, it would still never be as good as their mother's, but it was definitely well-worth eating anyway. Zack was the first to finish and go back to the couch to continue his work on the Mastering, followed by Sephiroth leaving because he was being called in for a mission by Lazard. Al and Angeal began talking about plants when Al heard from the older man that he grew the herbs he used to season his foods, leaving Eden and Genesis to eat, then sit and stare at the arrays laid out.

"If I'm reading that right, we're going to have to plan to move most of the broken arrays into the outer ones for the initial transfer," Eden said suddenly, and Genesis looked up at him in mild surprise. "The ones which broke into three especially will have to be moved carefully. Felicia's has the over-all highest count to start with, so we don't want to move too many into it when everything will have to merge. The ones anchored to the three-point array may have to move to it...But it looks like you lined everything up, so the main thing we're looking at to fix the broken ones is to move them into the appropriate pattern or segment of pattern they're from."

"Segment of pattern?" the red haired man asked curiously.

"Well, the twenty-five sub-arrays allocated to the second array are arranged into sets of five themselves, so if one of the five in a set of five broke, we'd want to fix the one in the set of five and remove the broken part which left it dangling randomly. Come to think of it, I wonder if those arrays on the five-point are the ones which form personality because of how they're set and the effect their severing seems to have had on the shards. Anyway, the sevens are arranged into three sets of seven with each point on the seven-point array, so if one of those was broken, we'd want to move it into the right set. In that regard, we might even have to move some of the complete sub-arrays so the full sets of five or three-by-seven will be whole in whichever shard the set is most dominant."

After gazing at the array for a minute, Genesis nodded and pointed to one part as he said, "So where that broken array is and there are three of five whole sub-arrays in one shard and one whole one in the other, we'd actually want to move the single whole array to the one where the three are as well as fixing the broken one on that side."

"Right."

"But this is a three-dimensional array in reality, and Felicia's got multitudes of random arrays from all of the sets, which is the reason hers has the highest overall count...I think we need a detailed picture of this to work with."

"Yeah, because we can't just leave it laying out on anyone's floor."

"I can't do anything on this side—check with Tseng, Rufus, and Felicia to see if any of them knows a secure place we could lay these out and fix them into place. I'd especially hate for this array to be activated by someone while it's laid out whole..."

"That would be singularly frightening. Though, it might not activate without a soul attached to it, but that's not an experiment I'm willing to try or a risk I'm willing to take—all it would do is run the risk of creating a second Zirconaide which we'd have no way to do anything about."

"Well, it's one more step in the right direction, and once we have a place to lay them out, we can actually make real headway on how to fix it. How are you for time?" Genesis asked.

Eden checked his PHS for the time, then said, "We have to go meet Tseng and Mei soon. If we have enough time, I might be able to ask him then, but I won't count on him even having a place." His gaze then went to Zack and he called, "Still expecting to be until about ten, Zack?"

"A little longer because I stopped to eat..." the black haired young man answered absently from the couch.

"Got it. See you at the Academy later, then. Come on, Al. We'd better head out," the Turk said as he rose and grabbed the bag by his chair.

"Oh, okay," Al agreed, pushing himself up—then turning back to Angeal to ask, "Can I come back and talk about plants with you again?"

"Of course, as long as I'm not on a mission," Angeal agreed with a smile.

Eden looked at Genesis in amusement and said, "Thanks for showing me that—it's a huge breakthrough in what we're trying to do." Genesis nodded, and the two blonds headed out.

Not long after, they were on the Academy's main floor and in the office. The secretary had just greeted them when Tseng and Mei walked in, so they did a quick greeting exchange and set up Al's and Mei's Student ID cards to access the extra funds. Tseng then asked for some time with Eden and the two students in a private office, which they gave him. After he—apparently—did a quick sweep of the room for bugs, the Wutain man motioned the others to sit as he took a seat himself.

"What's in the bag, Eden?" the older Turk asked with a raised brow as the three sat.

"Some starter Materia, bracers, and fist weapons for Al and Mei," the blond Turk answered. "They both need the glove because of their Materia issue, and I wanted them both to have a Final Attack and Revive paired. This gives them other basics, too, mainly common Magic Materia."

Tseng's brow rose and he asked, "Didn't you only have one Final Attack?"

"I got Zack to start Mastering them," Eden replied with a smirk. "But I thought it was sort of necessary to make sure they had one in short order. After all—from Fort Condor to Cosmo Canyon, how much time passed before I accidentally got myself killed?"

With a faint chuckle, the Wutain agreed, "That's fine, then. Work that out with them. I'm not going to be able to stay much longer, but for today, I want you especially to stay inside this building and to stay away from windows on the lower floors. These two may like the facilities on some of the other floors if they get bored with looking around the school area once they're done in their afternoon classes."

"Just show me to a library and I'll be fine," Al threw in, his gaze somewhat amused.

"Me too, right now!" Mei agreed.

"Good enough. I'll leave you both in Eden's care for the rest of the morning, then," Tseng said as he rose. "There are some things to finalize here before they start—though they apparently skipped all but uniform fitting with Princess Yufi because she was too eager to start her lessons—but otherwise, they'll be in the Academy's care. Since that means you'll have some time, I suggest you find your desk in our office and start doing some of our backed-up paperwork. They won't have access to your apartment with their ID's, so they'll have to find you there after doing their research."

"Am I really going to be expected in the Turks' office to do paperwork that's not even my own mission reports?" Eden asked in a distinctly whiny tone (2) as the man headed for the door.

At his tone, Al covered his mouth with his hand to hide chuckles, Mei looked horrified, and Tseng turned back to him with his brow cocked. The Wutain man said, "I told you that back when I went over the rules of the Turks with you after realizing how much Veld and I had missed the first time. It has to be done, and the sooner it gets done, the more time Turks get to spend out in the field. Right now, it needs to start getting done."

"...Fine..." Eden sighed. "We'll see how the day goes." In the back of his mind, he was already plotting ways to get around the order.

Tseng's brow rose higher at the words, then he gave a nod and left.

Mei told Eden, " _Never_ back-talk your boss like that! It's dishonorable!"

Eden just replied by having a laughing fit, then dropped the bag of goods on the table. He separated out the two sets of gear and Materia, then explained to them how the things functioned, the slots with the Materia types especially. After he explained it to them and slotted their first required pair—the Mastered Final Attack and Revive (though they were still missing one Final Attack, so he kept that for Al's bracer)—he let them take a bit of time to sort out the rest of what they'd actively have on.

By the time the two were done, Al and Mei had both decided to pair Restore and All and to use the four basic elements, Fire, Ice, Lightning, and Earth. It was the items they slotted on the glove which began to differ, as Al chose to use Gravity, Sense, Manipulate, and Heal while Mei used Poison paired with Added Effect, then finished her list with Gravity and Sense. Both were valid sets, and it showed both how they were the same and how they were different—Mei was more of an independent traveler while Al was more attuned to working with others. Especially when factoring in Al's request for more Alls to pair with Heal and either Sense or Manipulate.

Zack was let into the room around the time the two finished, bearing the second Final Attack for Al and completing both sets for the new kids. He left again (excitedly) right away because he had been offered a solo mission, and after looking at it, Angeal had agreed he should be able to go alone. As they were now done with the day's requirements outside the school things they had to do, they rejoined the secretary for the rest of the activities they'd have to do that morning. The secretary found their discussions highly amusing, but wasn't troubled by having a Turk there—several Turks had come out of the Academy over the years, after all.

Since Al and Mei had already gotten changed into their new uniforms and had their student ID's, they were fine being left at the library until their afternoon classes began. As such, Eden left the two there so he could head to the Turks' office, where Reno pointed him at his actual desk and the folders on it with a smirk. The blond just sighed and got to work—but oddly enough, he found the data the Turks gathered more interesting than any previous paperwork he'd done. Of course, his instructions were an oddly vague 'compile the pertinent data'...

 **Notes:**

(1) Okay, I probably made that somewhat confusing, but in discussion between two people who know what they're talking about, putting in the baby steps begins to sound strange. As such, here's what's happening with the arrays.

Zirconaide's arrays are three-dimensional because there are so many arrays involved—their inter-locking forms shape a globe rather than just a circle, but they still form flat circles on a flat plain for the three central arrays Ed and Genesis were talking about.

All of the 'arrays' they've been talking about up to this point are 'SUB-arrays', not just 'arrays'.

The seven-point, five-point, and three-point arrays are the actual base arrays of the whole system, but couldn't be seen until all the sub-arrays were laid out properly, because two of the three were shattered into multiple pieces and the third has attached sub-arrays laid out in an uncommon form.

The seven, five, and three main arrays are IN ADDITION TO the numbers Genesis gave:

2 x 3 (6)

5 x 5 (25)

7 x three x 7 (147)

Meaning each anchoring array has an additional number added to it:

2 x 3 (6) + 3 = **9**

5 x 5 (25) + 5 = **30**

7 x three x 7 (147) + 7 = **154**

for a grand total of **193**. (Sorry for the oddity of the written 'three' in the numbers-apparently FFN doesn't like 7's and 3's next to each other? I also had a problem with my two's and three's showing up together until I separated them out like this.)

When Eden later mentions the five-point arrays being personality-related, that's because Zirconaide shattered with each point of the five-point anchored in separate shards, but not one of them has a complete cluster (of five) around that point. That's why their behavior is so skewered.

Of the total number of arrays, 2 of the 3 main arrays are broken into five pieces running across all five shards, and 21 sub-arrays in addition to that are broken into two or three parts. Every cluster is broken to some extent, other than the three-point ones.

Did I miss any important details in exactly what Ed and Genesis are trying to fix?

(2) If anyone actually thinks this is Ed's normal behavior since arriving on the Planet, you'll find it's NOT. This was the way he behaved in Amestris, though in a milder form—and Tseng is already both irritated and confused by this 'unusual' behavior, even if he hasn't said anything yet. Just wait for what this leads to... O.O

Also, if anyone thought nothing about him would revert just because some of his major, life-changing adjustments haven't, that was rather silly. He's used to behaving a certain way around the people he's familiar with, and he's only had 5 months away from them—not 5 YEARS, which may mean he wouldn't start to revert, in any way.


	18. 15-Operation Bait

Operation Bait

Several hours after Eden started working on mission data compilation, Reno tapped his shoulder. Eden looked up with a dazed expression, then blinked and scowled as he asked, "What? I'm busy—" he paused for a moment to check the folders he still had under the one he was working on, then went on, "Working on the fourth from last one."

Reno's brow rose. "Already, yo? That shoulda taken you 'bout two full days, not one."

"...Two days?" Eden asked in confusion, looking back down at the folders with the work he'd already done. Then he blinked and looked up at the red haired Turk again. "I research and compile data for a living—before combat, even—so that's probably why. Unless I missed the point and did it wrong."

Shoulders lifted in a shrug as the older teen replied, "I'll have a look, yo, but that's not why I stopped ya." He grabbed the closed folders and motioned the blond to follow him. "Looks like they're here, and we're gonna watch with Tseng while they work their way through the buildin'. Best way to keep 'em from findin' you by accident. They don't seem ta want to go to the Academy floors, so the kids'll be fine in the library there, yo, but we dunno if they'll want ta scout around any other floors—like ours. C'mon."

Eden rose and followed Reno closely as they headed to the command center hidden in what was now Reno's office. As they walked in and shut the door behind them, Tseng turned his head just enough to see them before turning back to the camera screens. Cissnei was sitting at the console beside him as she watched all the screens. Because it was almost eight in the evening and close to closing for the general public (had he really worked through from before noon to then?), most of them only showed a few people. Largely, what they showed were Academy students busy doing research or training or employees at their workstations, as they often worked well past 'closing' time.

However, a few screens immediately drew Ed's eye. One showed the Academy library on the fourth floor, where Al, Mei, Elena, Shelke, and Shalua (and many other students) were. As interesting as that one was, two others were more interesting. The lobby clearly showed Izumi and Sc—Amal, he had to remember to call him Amal—as they stood in the middle of the room, sharp eyes quickly finding various points around the room, likely their soon-to-be targets. Another was of the stairwell which had been used during the invasion to clear people off the first two floors then locked down—cameras had been added to the previously unobserved and unmonitored stairwell. In it, Mustang, Hawkeye, and Fuery made their way upward at a good pace without over-exerting themselves, not realizing they were being watched.

"That's them for sure," Eden said as he watched the two groups.

"Who's who so we can send our people to meet them?" Tseng asked.

Eden moved over to the screens and pointed at the black haired woman whose dreadlock-like hair was pulled into a high ponytail with two free locks on either side of her face. "That's Izumi Curtis." She still wore black, fitted pants and a sleeveless, white device which was really like a very long button-up, fitted shirt. The only thing which didn't make it shirt-like was the fact that it fell to mid-calf. Her tattoo (of the snake wound around the cross) was visible on her collarbone.

He watched in fascination as Tseng zoomed in the camera on her, then 'took a snapshot' of the image, which he forwarded to Sora directly from the console, then the image from the camera returned to normal.

The blond Turk's hand moved to the darker skinned man beside Teacher, whose most notable trait was the X-shaped scar on his forehead, and his grayish-white hair and red eyes were clearly visible. "That's Scar—Amal now. I'm really having trouble remembering that." The man was just dressed in dark pants and a white t-shirt, without even a jacket like he'd had in Amestris, but it made it more than obvious that he planned to fight with his bare fists, just like Izumi. It also clearly showed the bold, black lines on his arms, forming alchemy arrays for both destruction and creation which were designed based on Xingese alkahestry.

Tseng repeated the camera zoom process and forwarded that image to someone as well.

"The distraction. Why choose them when they'd have the best chance of getting into the locked floors?" Tseng asked.

"You're underestimating the others by saying that, but they're 'the distraction' because they're the two most easily angered of them. And make no mistake—they're _angry_ right now. It's in the set of their mouths and the look in their eyes more than anything," Eden replied in a dry tone. Tseng just inclined his head in recognition.

Eden pointed at the ones on the other screen, Hawkeye, then Fuery, then Mustang. "Hawkeye and Fuery you already know. Mustang is this guy, and he's the one you _really_ have to worry about. He only set up the plan like this because he thinks there will be people waiting for an attack and is trying to make sure they get drawn away. His one downfall is in not being aware of the cameras and how much we—the Turks and the SOLDIERs—know because of it." Mustang's short, black hair fell forward over his head rather than being brushed back like Fuery's, and his black eyes were as piercing and focused as Tseng's. He was in the white, button-up shirt, the navy blue pants, and the black boots of the Amestrian military uniform Hawkeye and Fuery also currently wore.

At that, Tseng moved to a different camera on a higher floor, waited until the three gave him a good shot of Mustang's face, then froze it there. From the frozen image, he zoomed it in and sent it to Genesis.

"Reno, send Freyra and Quis to floor sixty-two to wait at the stairwell," Tseng said. "All the rest will know what to do as soon as they got the image from me."

Reno pulled out his PHS to send text messages to the two, then began flipping through the folders he'd taken from Eden's desk earlier rather than watching the screens. The sound of the papers turning made the others look at him.

"What are you doing, Reno?" Tseng asked with a faintly raised brow—Reno was notorious for hating paperwork.

After a few moments, the red haired Turk snorted before saying, "Didn't ya leave Eden the instructions to do this, yo?"

"I did, basic instructions to compile the data," Tseng blinked, moving over to look at the page Reno had stopped at. He then frowned and took the folders to start flipping through them.

"Was I doing it wrong?" the blond asked, frowning.

"Not...wrong. Not by that definition," Tseng answered, looking up at him. "I should have been more specific in my instructions, I suppose. You weren't meant to assess them for who might have done it, or to try indicating where to start looking. This was just meant to be compilation. How many did you do?"

"Most of them," Eden answered, his expression turning irritated and hurt. "Really? You have that much data and you _don't_ try to figure out a place to start looking further? Aren't you wasting a lot of time that way?"

Tseng's lips pursed and he turned his gaze to the camera screens for a minute before saying, "We'll have to discuss this again in more detail when we meet before you go back on guard duty on Rufus. Until then, we have a situation to resolve and you'll need to rest by the time this is done, so we won't be discussing it tonight. Needless to say, there's a _reason_ we do it in this way, and it's _not_ 'because that's the way it's done.'" He moved back over to the console where he had been standing before, dropping them onto the angled panel in front of him.

"So you basically tell me I was doing hours of work wrong when I wasn't left much for instructions—you said so yourself—then just brush me off?" the blond glared at his back.

Cissnei's and Reno's eyes both widened, but they showed no other reaction, and while Tseng didn't answer, his shoulders had tensed. With an irritated noise, Eden faced the exit with the intent to head back to his apartment (maybe via the stairwell, even), but was stopped by a voice colder than he'd ever heard it before.

"Stay put and sit down, Eden. This is too far along for you to leave without jeopardizing the whole operation," Tseng ordered sharply.

When Eden reached for the door, Reno's EMR was in his way and the red haired teen's lips were next to his ear as he whispered softly, "There are times for this kinda thing, but now ain't one o' them, yo. _Don't_ make me use force."

The blond turned his head sightly to see Reno's eyes—they weren't showing any expression _at all_. He really didn't like being boxed in by the other teen, especially now that he was starting to understand what Ruluf had meant when he'd said Eden hadn't yet seen either the best or the worst of Reno. Something about his behavior was frightening in that moment, a feeling of 'being hunted' he found eerily similar to the time Scar (1) had nearly killed him if Mustang hadn't shown up with reinforcements when he did.

Dropping his hand, Eden slipped out from between Reno and the door, then moved to the wall across from the consoles and sat against it, head down without saying a word. It wasn't like he was needed for anything, after all.

SH

In the lobby, Izumi and Amal moved towards the open stair to the museum-like area several steps above the main floor, ignoring the receptionist who told them they would be closing soon. The two parted as Amal headed for the elevator and Izumi swung her fist out to hit one of the pillars acting as supports for the floor—the floors—above. A few people still in the lobby screamed as most of the pillar shattered and the ceiling rocked above them. The woman didn't actually want to make it collapse, so she moved to a nearby wall, intending to put a fair-sized hole in it—but finding that metal sheets, while taking more force to damage than brick, also tended to collapse in their entirety to a strong enough blow. A six-foot section of the wall collapsed under her blow, which produced more screams.

On his way to his destination, Amal hit a wall as well, causing it the same degree of damage and more screams. At the elevator bank, Amal was forced to jump back as the doors opened and two blades struck out at him. He barely had time to blink as one of the blade wielders shot past him—a Xingese, or Wutain, woman, he thought—but the other stepped forward calmly and without much speed. Not that he couldn't move fast—his body structure alone indicated speed was his primary asset—but he apparently didn't feel the need to rush his attack. The man wore a helmet so none of his features from his nose up were visible, and he dressed in dark purple. A SOLDIER Second?

Amal looked past him to the elevators—only to see another man, larger and more muscular than the first, step out and stand calmly just in front of them. The man had black hair and wore a black uniform like the woman who had shot past him—they were SOLDIER Firsts. It was immediately clear that he'd have to get through both men to reach the elevators, but if the damage he and Izumi had already done had only draw three opponents...Either they had seriously underestimated Shinra's combat strength or they weren't being taken as a serious threat for some reason. He braced himself to fight the more slender man walking calmly towards him.

In the meantime, as Izumi had been about to knock down her second wall, her fist hit the flat of a strangely durable blade rather than the wall, and she met resistance strong enough that what—or who—ever she had just hit _hadn't moved_. At all. When she withdrew her fist, she found herself facing a woman dressed in black and who looked Xingese—what they called Wutain on this world. The woman held a large sword similar to a type of broadsword, handling it like it weighed nothing more than a sheet of paper, and she'd easily withstood the blow...But the biggest oddity Izumi could see in her looks was her glowing, blue left eye (the right was covered by an eye patch).

"Please don't destroy the building support pillars," the Wutain woman told Izumi genially, in an almost friendly and amused tone. "It's troublesome to fix them."

"...They don't want me to destroy the pillars, but they only send one person to stop me?" Izumi asked with a derisive snort. "I'll destroy whatever I feel like destroying until I have the kids I came to get back."

The woman's gaze became more amused. "If those 'kids you came to get back' are here and you destroy the support pillars, won't you doom them to death, along with everyone _else_ in the building?" Izumi blinked at her in surprise before the woman added, "And so you realize this, four of the floors which would be the first crushed in the collapse are floors where children between the ages of six and eighteen live and study. Many are orphans or rescued children from abusive homes or slave markets. Would you _really_ be able to justify killing _them_?"

A chill ran through the woman's body as she realized she had maybe been a little careless in damaging one of the support pillars, but it wasn't something she could change at that point. It also didn't make her less angry. "Apparently, you people can easily justify kidnapping a bunch of kids who weren't doing anything, so I don't think you have much right to talk."

With a small shrug, the woman agreed, "Shinra has a tendency to take what they want, unfortunately, but even so, it's not all evil. After all, my life and the lives of many others were saved, spared, at the hands of some of Shinra's most vile creations (2). And you may have misunderstood the reason they were taken and what became of them."

"Riiight," Izumi snorted, then jumped at the woman to attack her. To her surprise, the woman used the flat of her blade to literally catch her weight and propel her back several feet.

"Shall we spar, then?" the woman asked genially, shifting her stance and shooting forward to attack first that time.

For the first time, Izumi realized what Mustang had meant when he'd said she shouldn't assume she'd be able to take anything Shinra threw at her, even as she found herself losing ground against the woman. Part of her was angry, but the bigger part was frightened by the revelation because she felt, for the first time, like she was too weak to take on an opponent. If this was SOLDIER...

The result of her fear was to fight harder rather than backing off, wanting to regain the strength she had relied on for so long.

Amal was faring no better against the slender man he faced, who he'd attacked first and kept up a series of attacks on for a few minutes already. He stayed 'calm' and assessed the difference in their strength, but all his assessment revealed was that the man wasn't someone he could beat single-handedly. If he could use alchemy or had brought a weapon, he'd have been able to do more, hold his own better, but he currently couldn't, so he was limited. And, unless he missed his guess, the other man who was guarding the elevators was _even stronger_ than the one he fought—skilled and capable, not physically stronger, though by his obvious muscle, he was probably that, too.

It surprised him to see the slender man take a step back when Amal hit the wall, then more when he said, "You could stop, you know."

"Why would I want to when Shinra makes a habit of kidnapping kids?" Amal asked with the same glare he had given State Alchemists when he'd been killing them.

Instead of the fear or the excitement the State Alchemists had reacted with, the man just smiled in amusement and said agreeably, "Yes, Shinra has some very bad habits. I won't deny that when I know it's true. But 'Shinra' isn't one person, and you don't actually _know_ what any of our reasons or purposes are."

Amal gave a small snort. "You think you can convince me to side with you when we know you're killing the planet?"

"Oh, you heard about that, too?" the man asked in amusement. "Yes, that's happening, too, and we're working to fix what we can, where we can. Absolutes are a bad thing to live by because they prevent you from seeing possible allies or things which may not be what you assumed they were."

Frankly, the slender man's open, blunt admission of Shinra's downfalls was shocking, as was his sentiment that things were being fixed. What was more shocking was that he wasn't giving long-winded statements, only stating facts. For the first time, he began to wonder if Mustang hadn't had a feeling they'd be walking into a trap and had hoped to waylay it by sending people to 'attack the front doors'...

"We've walked into a trap, haven't we?" Amal asked suddenly, mentally cursing.

"You have," the man agreed. "But it's not the trap you think it is. You aren't our enemies, and we don't want to hurt you. Will you stand down?"

With a glance at Izumi, who was fighting the Wutain woman in a flurry of fists and feet while making no headway, he realized they had seriously underestimated the strength and skills of even just _one_ of Shinra's combat force.

Giving a small sigh, he asked, "I don't have much choice, do I?"

"Well, you could leave or choose to keep fighting, but neither will really get you anywhere. Good job on finding a way past the security checkpoints without ID, by the way," the man told him with a smile.

Amal just sighed and surrendered.

SH

In the meantime, Mustang, Hawkeye, and Fuery had been working their way quickly up the stairwell at the back of the building, and had gotten to floor sixty. They just had to get to the mid to upper sixties, where Hawkeye thought the kids and Briggs men had been moved to. As they had managed to get their hands on only one bomb, they'd have to pick their floor carefully, though the Science Department floors were the most likely ones. They would get in at floor sixty-seven and work from there.

Except, as they got to floor sixty-one, they turned the corner and saw a woman in a black suit crouched on the inner corner railing, gazing at them with curiosity and amusement. "Oh, how fun! You made it here!" she grinned.

A moment later, a youth about eighteen years of age and blond appeared on the stairway landing beside the woman, also wearing the black suit. "Eeeh, does that mean we get a turn to play?" he asked with a cheerful grin.

"We aren't your toys," Hawkeye glared, lifting her handgun and shooting—only to find him not there anymore. Instead, he had launched himself down the stairs to land—literally—on Fuery.

As she was about to aim at the boy again while he and Fuery wrestled for the upper hand, Hawkeye suddenly found her handgun shot from her hand and looked back up at the woman—who held a handgun in one hand and a shotgun in the other easily and was still grinning. She holstered the handgun and hoisted her shotgun as she said, "Nope, sorry, you can't shoot Quis. He's still really a Rookie, you see, and we're a bit protective of him still. Well, I guess I'm not technically much better, but—I still have more combat experience, a lot more."

Out of the corner of her eye, Hawkeye saw Mustang about to raise his gun, but she put her hand in the way, telling him with her eyes to wait for a good time to get past the woman. She then spun and dove for her gun, grasping it to shoot at the woman, who jumped aside with a laugh.

"Firefight!" the woman yelled happily.

"Insolent—" Hawkeye glared, finding the stairway to be a detriment to her ability to target. She managed one which just clipped the woman through the rails, causing a yelp, then another laugh.

"Oooh, you're good! Very nice!" the other woman called to her from further up the stairwell—and she found herself only barely able to dodge several buckshot bullets fired in rapid succession. The many pellets left some holes in her shirt, a couple even grazing her skin and leaving a few small scratches.

It was only then when she realized Mustang wasn't there anymore, and she had no more time to think on him as the woman in the black suit assaulted her with more bullets. As much as she hated it, she had to respect the younger woman's skill, though...And she also had no more time to think about Fuery and Quis fighting at least one landing below her now because the woman was keeping her whole attention with her 'firefight'. The only thing they all paused momentarily to note was the sound of an explosion above them, and Hawkeye hoped that meant Mustang had succeeded.

About a minute after the explosion, she heard Fuery yell in shock then give a pained yelp, a crash or clang, and a pained shout from the blond eighteen-year-old. All of those had happened in the space of about two seconds.

"Oh, dear, did they fall?" the woman in the black suit asked as she leaned over the rail to try to look down the stairs. "Quis?" she called.

"I'm—ouch, my head hurts," the named young man whined.

"Stop moving, then," Fuery answered in a wryly amused tone, his words softer.

"Did you win, Kain?" Hawkeye asked in mild surprise.

"No, not really. I think we've both soundly _lost_ after walking into a very deliberate trap, though," the black haired man answered with a sigh.

Hawkeye turned to look for the woman, who now stood beside her (when had she gotten there?), and asked, "Is he right?"

"Pretty much," the woman agreed. "If you're okay to come quietly now, we should probably go check on the boys. The Princeling is obviously still a little careless."

"Don't call me—ow!" the blond began to yell, but cut himself off with a pained whine.

"Princeling?" Hawkeye asked as they walked down the stairs together, the older woman feeling very confused at the amenable way they were talking now.

"He's from a very wealthy family in a town where they generally don't have much wealth, so he gave himself airs. He was good enough to join the Turks, though. I'm Freyra, by the way," the woman grinned.

"I see."

The two turned the last corner to where the two men were, one landing lower than they had started on. It was darker than the first time they had passed through as the light seemed to have gone out. They immediately saw that Quis was still on top of Fuery, but they were against the landing wall below the light attached to it a foot below the ceiling. Rather, the light was _supposed_ to be a foot below the ceiling, but instead, it was laying shattered around the two men, the cage for it a few feet away and next to a pair of red and black nunchaku.

"...Really?" Freyra asked with an amazed look on her face. "Quis, you _broke the light_?"

" _Not_ what I was trying to do," the blond answered in a pained tone, hands to his head. For the first time, they realized Fuery's hands on his sides were actually holding him up, and there was blood on the blond's head.

"What happened, Fuery?" Hawkeye asked tiredly, the way she typically reacted to stupid stunts the new Amestrian military cadets and privates pulled. Why did she feel that way about 'an enemy'? (3)

"I'm not entirely clear on that, just that we fell down the flight of stairs, he landed on me, there was a loud clang, and—the light broke on his head," Fuery answered.

"...It broke on his head..." Freyra blinked, then sighed. "Bother. Now I have _two_ high-maintenance brothers to watch out for..." Quis made a face as she pulled out her PHS and found the number she needed. The comment about the high-maintenance brothers had made Hawkeye and Fuery trade puzzled looks.

A moment later, she said, "I need someone to take over for Quis and a medical team. I assume you saw what happened. We'll wait here for you." After a short pause, she hung up and looked at Hawkeye and Fuery. "We baited you on purpose, and this is actually a full-scale operation. We're being monitored, but we also only get back-up if we ask for it—that's why I called in. I didn't think it would be because of carelessness on _our_ part, though."

Soon after, a red haired girl and a bald man with sunglasses on, both also in the black suits, arrived in the stairwell and the girl said, "Rude will take Quis to the Hospital Wing. I'll be joining you here."

"Thanks, Cissnei," Freyra grinned. She then frowned a bit and commented, "You look—upset."

"Now isn't the time," Cissnei answered as Rude lifted Quis off Fuery and carried him back down the stairs. The red haired girl offered her hand to Fuery and said, "Come on. You could probably both do with a good meal and a rest."

He took her hand, but both Amestrians sighed as the two also led them down several floors. As they went, Fuery rubbed the back of his aching head (which had hit the wall in the fall)—until some sort of energy washed over him and the wound, not just the pain, vanished. Hawkeye had a similar experience with her minor bullet wounds suddenly closing up and healing. Now wasn't _that_ a curious thing—on many levels...

 **Notes:**

(1) Like a previous mention in a discussion between Ed and Al, Ed's use of the name Scar is deliberate here to separate 'Scar' and his actions from 'Amal' and HIS actions.

(2) For anyone who doesn't realize Sora's/Argento's view of this (and who she's talking about as a result), I'm going to clarify. 'Shinra's most vile creations' to her are actually the Turks—they ARE the ones who work in the shadows doing Shinra's dirty work, knowingly and willingly. While this may seem to directly oppose Deepground and her view on it, she holds a view of them that all but the ones who maintained humanity are and always were monsters, so Shinra didn't 'create' them, just made their depravities easier to manifest. The Turks mostly don't start out as mass murderers, kidnappers, and so on, they get bent into the role as they go—ones like Kariya as a terrorist are actually rare, and they're _still_ more human than the 'people' who had comprised most of Deepground.

(3) Hawkeye is very familiar with Kain Fuery, so she'll change what she calls him based on the situation. If she's talking to him as a friend, she'll often call him Kain, but if she's in 'First Lieutenant' mode, she'll call him Fuery. Just to clear that up.

Now, the actual reason for this note: I've mentioned before that Minerva is doing a certain amount of manipulating of the Amestrians' surroundings to make things more favorable for them (as much as she can, anyway, which is harder for her in Midgar). If she agrees with a path the Amestrians have an opportunity to take, who's to say she wouldn't also manipulate _the Amestrians_ into taking that path? Ed's absurd desire to get out of Cosmo Canyon and head north when he suppressed his memory wasn't just a whim on his part, after all, but him going further to Nibelheim resulted in a large number of positive events. Minerva had great reason to want those events, so gave him a little, mental push (which no one, either my readers or the people 'in' Gaia, noticed), and she's now doing the same with Hawkeye. And with others in the group.


	19. 16-Addressing Issues

Addressing Issues

Mustang ran up the stairs past Hawkeye and the woman in the black suit—though he was a little surprised she seemed to be deliberately ignoring him—and kept going up. The one thing he was now fairly certain of was that they had been expected and planned for, a fact which would have caused him to call off the operation if he'd known or realized it sooner. He knew the skills of his own people, and they were the best there were at scouting, something they'd reported back to him successfully on. Everything had gone smoothly, but something had still felt—just a little bit off.

How had they been found out?

Either way, they couldn't abort now, because there was nowhere to abort _to_. They were trapped in the building.

So, he kept going up until he reached the landing for the sixty-seventh floor. The soundproofing in the building was pretty impressive for the sound of the bullets being shot off below to barely be noted. Then again, he was sure the woman in the black suit had a silencer, and she was the nearer to him of the two.

As he was about to draw the bomb he had for the door, he froze at the sound of a man reciting, " _My friend, the fates are cruel!/There are no dreams, no honor remains!/The arrow has left the bow of the goddess./My soul, corrupted by vengeance,/Hath endured torment, to find the end of the journey,/In my own salvation,/And your eternal slumber./Legend shall speak,/Of sacrifice at world's end./The wind sails over the water's surface,/Quietly, but surely._ "

Chills ran down his spine at the implications in the—dramatic poetry—the speaker had chosen, then he turned his head to look up the next flight of stairs. Sitting on the next landing up and with his feet on lower stairs was the man in the red leather coat, the one they'd been told had taken the six who had been at the warehouse. In his hand was a book, which he snapped shut before looking up at Mustang with a grin.

"You look—frightened," the man commented, slipping the book into his pocket. He didn't rise, just propped his elbow on his knee and his chin on the heel of the same hand.

"How?" Mustang asked sharply. He _knew_ his people's skills. Everything had gone well. How had they been caught so easily?

"How what?" the red haired man in the red leather coat asked in genuine confusion and curiosity—though he paired that with some sort of absent motion with his hand which generated a small ball of flames he began winding just as absently through his fingers. It gave off the strong impressions of both habit and boredom.

"How did you know we were coming? How did you set this trap?" The black haired man was still having no luck working that out.

"Oh, that. Apparently, according to the Turks, you've never encountered video cameras before?"

"Video? What's—?"

At Mustang's confused expression, the man nodded. "Video cameras record moving pictures of what's happening in a place as the actions are happening. And the Turks are—well, spies. They immediately notice people who aren't Shinra employees behaving like them, like spies, and start taking note. And we also knew we were baiting you on purpose because we were trying to make the situation as favorable for us as we could so—"

At the realization of how thoroughly they had been outdone, Mustang made the sudden decision to throw the bomb at the man, drawing his gun to shoot at it, which also caused it to explode violently. He had been expecting the action to destroy them both and tear the stairwell apart with a massive ' _boom_ ', but instead—

He felt a deafening sensation as the explosion rippled, then split and flames swirled harmlessly around the red haired man. Well, not quite 'harmlessly', as the stairs, wall, and railing all still ended up blackened nearest the point of impact, which was nearest the man in red and black. The 'SOLDIER' had held a hand forward and there was a series of glowing marks—were those _alchemy arrays for fire_?—around his wrist as bits of the flames broke off from the mass and dissipated until only a small portion of the flames were left. His expression wasn't angry or offended, he was merely blinking surprise.

Before the fire dissipated, Mustang unloaded his gun into the man's chest, aiming for his heart—but only the first shot made it, as all successive ones were blocked by the man's silver and red sword, which he had used his other hand to pull over his chest defensively. The glowing arrays around his other wrist stayed steady and the fire kept dissipating at the same rate it had been, leaving Mustang wondering how when he was _sure_ he had shot the other man in the heart, and he should have been on his death bed then, even with only one bullet. Soon after, there were no more bullets, no more fire, and no more glowing arrays, leaving only still silence.

"...Well. Are you done now?" the red haired man asked in mild amusement.

Left with no choice and stunned into something approaching panic, Mustang dropped his gun and asked incredulously, "How? A bullet to the heart..."

"Rapid regenerative abilities," the man replied. "It still hurts, but I'm pretty much not in danger of death unless I take a _huge_ number of injuries all at once." He sheathed his sword and settled back into a comfortable position, holding his hand up to generate that small ball of flame to wind between his fingers absently again.

"How are you doing that?" Mustang suddenly couldn't resist asking as his eyes fixed on the ball of flame in fascination. Even at his best, he'd never been able to literally 'play' with fire like it was a toy, and right then, it was far, far easier to focus on that to avoid a much worse emotional response at his situation as it stood.

A little smirk found its way to the man's face as he said, "I thought you'd like it—but you'll have to join SOLDIER if you want me to teach you."

Mustang rubbed his forehead to ward off a sudden headache. Join SOLDIER? As if they would even take him after this! "Why did you take them, the kids especially?"

"I can count on one hand the number of people who know anything about the arrays and how they work or what they look like," the red haired man answered. "When they start popping up all over the city, or many in specific areas, that's definitely not normal, and we _needed_ to know what was going on. My retrieving your friends kept the President from being an idiot and doing something drastic to kill a lot more people than just the ones they were taking as a threat."

"The kids? You took and did—whatever with the kids—because of that?" the black haired man glared. It was the glare which normally unnerved people.

Rather than being unsettled, the man gave him a small smile and said, "They're all fine. No, they aren't with the Science Department. Once we know you won't blow a gasket...er, again—you'll be able to see them. Because we went to get them, we could choose how we'd deal with them, and we didn't see a point to harming any of them."

Mustang's eyes narrowed in suspicion as he asked, "How do I know that's true?"

"It's true because it's what happened," a new voice commented in mild amusement from behind Mustang, causing the black haired man to spin quickly—only to see Miles, but the other man was wearing a black suit, not his Amestrian uniform. A black suit like the two who had intercepted Fuery and Hawkeye...

"Why are you here, 'Kamil'?" the red haired man asked of the white haired one curiously, banishing the fireball from his hand with another absent wave.

"Quis ended up hitting himself over the head with a light," Miles—Kamil?—answered. "After that, Tseng thought it might just be easier for me to talk with Mustang, because that way I can verify the situation."

"Everyone's safe? How do you know?" Mustang asked in a sharp tone.

The man in the black suit gave a nod. "The younger Elric and Miss Chang are currently in the Academy's library with three girls they'll apparently have classes with, Miss Rockbell is working in the engineering office two floors below this one, Roach joined the Infantry, and Murray is with an autonomous group called Gaia's Refuge. Yes, the same ones who actually helped us out a few times, according to you. It wasn't hard for me to verify those on my own time once I got this uniform and the ID which goes with it. None of us are hostages, and that was never their intent in retrieving us."

After a silence, the black haired man turned to look up at the red haired one as he asked, "If that's all true, why were you quoting poetry about a 'sacrifice at world's end'?"

"Oh, that," the red haired man said, looking amused again. "Because LOVELESS is the love of my life and I quote it at random moments. I was reading it anyway when you came up, so I started reading it out loud, that's all. And I haven't had many chances to quote it lately, so I figured I was about due. If that's what set you off, I have to—apologize for that."

"So Eden's right and you're definitely capable of being _dramatically flamboyant_ and a show-off?" Kamil asked in mild amusement.

"Of course I am!" the red haired man replied indignantly. "It's in my nature, and I always had a flare for the arts!"

Kamil snickered as Mustang looked between the two in confusion for a moment before asking, "Is this really the time for the two of you to be _joking around_?"

"Flare—Genesis, are you sure you aren't talking about your affinity for fire?" Kamil asked of the red haired man, apparently ignoring Mustang.

"That too," Genesis replied cheerfully, and Mustang sighed.

"So, Mustang, are you going to just come along with us now that you've had your fun with the bomb?" Kamil asked him suddenly. Genesis rose and stepped easily down the stairs at the question, and Mustang honestly felt he had no choice, especially when he realized the younger man had nothing to show for his wound but a bit of a hole and stain in his clothes where the bullet had hit him.

"...What about the rest of the ones who came in here—the two at the front doors and Hawkeye and Fuery?" he asked. If only he could have used his flame alchemy...

"If all went according to plan, Izumi Curtis and Amal should have been captured with as little harm as possible, just like your two—subordinates," Genesis answered. "And apparently, in the scuffle between your two and the two Turks, one of the Turks managed to hurt _himself_ , so they should be fine. Kamil, do you know how the battle at the entrance is going?"

"Amal stopped fighting when he realized he wasn't going to make it to the elevator, and Mrs. Curtis—is still fighting, but according to Commander Hewley, she's going to need a stay in the Hospital Wing by the time she runs out of energy. As far as I've been able to tell, though, her opponent hasn't hurt her," Kamil answered. "So, they're all fine and largely unharmed."

Finally, with a last sigh, Mustang agreed, "Fine, I'll go with you for now."

The other two looked amused as they led him to one of the rooms the first six had used overnight.

SH

As the last of the healthy four was led into a room on the Turks' floor and guards were posted at the doors, Tseng released a sigh and gave a small nod. The only real glitch in the plan—which had ended up turning out in their favor—was Quis hurting himself in his tumble with Fuery, so all had gone well. It was now also resolved, which was a good thing, because he apparently had something _else_ to deal with now as well—something he hadn't expected to need to.

While the whole incident had been going on, he'd had some time to ponder Eden's childish behavior, and had really only been able to determine one explanation—the shift in it was directly linked to the other Amestrians' presence. What he wasn't sure of was what the cause was or the reason for the change. He also didn't like having to keep Reno on him like a Hound just to keep him from doing something stupid, a trait he had never previously associated with Eden. Well, the younger man _was_ only sixteen, so he supposed it could have happened at any time, but _now_ was a particularly bad one.

With a stony expression—he was still angry, but knew he'd get nowhere if he acted on it—he turned to Eden and asked quietly, "So, what made you think it was a good idea to be obstinate _today_ , Eden?" Reno was leaning on the wall beside the blond, but his EMR was still in his hand, showing the threat had needed to be kept present for Eden to stay in place. "Because this isn't the first time you've done it."

"I'm not—" the teen began, looking up with a glare.

"You are, and you know it," Tseng cut him off sharply. Eden silenced. " _Why_?"

He was faintly surprised to see confusion in the younger Turk's golden eyes before he looked away, muttering, "But I'm not behaving differently from..." He stopped without finishing the sentence, and to Tseng, that indicated he probably _had_ realized his behavior had shifted, so he thought it would be better for the teen to finish formulating whatever thought had reached his mind.

Reno gave him a questioning look when he didn't retaliate against the repeated denial, but Tseng just motioned for him to wait. The red haired Turk glared, but he stayed quiet as his grip on his EMR tightened, and their silent exchange had gone unnoticed by Eden while the teen sorted his thoughts. Tseng had the sudden thought that it was probably good for Reno to 'participate' in a situation like this one so he knew sometimes he had to let the other person figure out what had gone wrong. In this case, if Eden didn't figure it out for himself, even if someone else told him what they thought it was, it wouldn't really fix anything because the blond would just keep denying it.

Finally, Eden said, "...I don't really have words for it...not good ones...It's hard to..."

"Try explaining it anyway. We're not currently in a rush," Tseng replied.

The blond sighed and told him, "I think...it has to do with...seeing them again...Like, I don't know—the familiarity of the people I used to know...and I just...I guess started acting like I used to. With the Amestrian military, a lot of people got mad at them for hiring a twelve-year-old, so they were pretty lax in the rules they made me follow. And the Bastard—Mustang—really, really liked to taunt me, make me angry on purpose. In retaliation, I sort of...He had to try to find ways to get me to do what he wanted me to do without saying it straight out because I would always try to get around or out of following his orders. I was never stopped because it quickly became sort of like a game between us—his taunting and me not following orders without a trick or something. I really...acted like a selfish, childish brat because of all that, and seeing them again..."

"You're reverting to those old behaviors?" Tseng filled in questioningly. Reno seemed surprised at first, but then his gaze became understanding.

"...Yeah, that's really the only thing I..." Eden paused, then sighed again. "I think it happened in Amestris once, too, not long before I ended up here. When I'm not around them, my behavior is more like what you're used to, but it always...went right back to 'normal' when...even when it was just me and Al..." His expression grew pained. "If he joins the Turks, we'll both be doomed..."

"He won't be joining the Turks," Tseng answered in a dry tone. "He doesn't have anything like the mental qualifications we need when he isn't around you—even when he is sometimes—so we wouldn't take him. SOLDIER might, but I think even they would have their doubts. The question is—does your childishness also apply to people like Kamil and to Hawkeye if she was to join the Turks?"

"...Hawkeye I'll probably be able to deal with better because she was never one to taunt me. Kamil isn't an issue—that was one of my times where I was better behaved, anyway, because General Armstrong, his former commander, was—not someone you ever messed with. Ever. The others are iffy, but I was sort of used to my 'normal' behavior around them, so..."

"So what you're telling us is that meeting them again is actually detrimental, both to your mental state and to your maturity level."

"...I guess so. I had never thought about it that way before."

"Unfortunately, I can't leave your behavior undisciplined, either. We need to stop you from reverting to your old behaviors, and we have to do it fast, before too many of them trigger. You literally could have ruined an operation in progress. Like I told you about not calling in at scheduled report times, we can't afford to have to place a guard on you just so you _don't_ do what you nearly did. This _cannot_ happen again," Tseng told him. Eden's expression became sour, but he said nothing, so the Wutain went on, "We aren't them, and you aren't a child being given leniency. Unfortunately, I don't think our standard disciplinary actions would work, because those would mainly amount to either increasing your paperwork or doing some form of janitorial work for awhile."

The words made Eden snort. "You're probably right."

For a few minutes, Tseng stood there silently as he thought about what he could do to make Eden realize they weren't the same people he grew up with. He knew the desired result (that the blond wasn't in Amestris anymore, regardless of familiar faces), and shoving that fact in Eden's face was probably a good way to start shattering the hold his people still had on him. There weren't a lot of ways to do that with things Eden was both capable of doing and would loathe doing again—he didn't have the skill to do engineering work, for example. Then again, if he did, Eden probably wouldn't really find it distasteful.

Suddenly, a viable task occurred to him, so Tseng said, "Very well, I think I have something, and because you're being obstinate today, you're starting now." When Eden looked up at him with wide eyes and Reno raised a curious brow, he explained, "There are several storage rooms, even a whole floor of storage, which _no one_ has been assigned to organize for a very long time. They range from storage for SOLDIER and the Turks to general office supplies to engineering parts and everything in between. You're going to go through and organize them all. _Every single one of them_ , unless a department head specifically tells me they don't want you to touch one in particular.

"We can't take you off guard duty on Rufus, but when you aren't on duty, you'll keep working. You'll work alone unless there's something you need help with and your watcher can't help you—anything you need will go to me through him. I'll provide things like boxes or shelves if you ask for them, for example, and your goal is to organize things to the best of your ability. And just to make sure you can't weasel out or get your watcher to help without viable need—or do it for you—he'll be someone I _know_ won't be conned and who I now know you just won't challenge."

"Hold on, you're gonna take away _my_ free time ta punish _him_ , yo?" Reno scowled.

"All the other Turks will take pity on him," Tseng replied evenly. "Likely even me, unfortunately. And think of it this way—your job until further notice, unless he's with Rufus or I absolutely need you for something, involves _watching someone else_ work. That's pretty much a vacation for you. I'll even let you have drinks with you—within reason, Reno. You don't have permission to get drunk, just to enjoy your 'free time' if you so choose."

After a pause, the red haired Turk's glare became a wicked grin which made Eden shudder, and Reno almost chirped (except that Reno was 'a man', so he 'didn't chirp like those little school girls', as the red haired teen had told Tseng more than once), "Now that's actually a pretty good job when ya put it like that, Bossman!"

"Good," the Wutain nodded. "If he's needed for something, I'll let you know to drop him off with me or whoever he's needed by. He can have water or fruit drinks while he's actively working, and can use the washroom—within reason, not every five minutes. All meals are allowed, along with breaks for snacks, but those will be about a half-hour and ten-minutes respectively. This isn't intended to make him collapse, so don't push him—the slower he works, the longer it'll take him to finish, so it's up to him. Because he has a few days now without having to stop and start like he will with Rufus, I want him to start with sixty-three's storage. After that, he can pick his order unless we get a specific request. I'll get you a complete list of his options once I have it."

"Good enough. How long do I keep 'im for tonight, yo?" Reno asked.

"Until about midnight. After tonight, usually only until sometime between nine and ten. He'll need some basic shelf cleaners and dusters, but shouldn't need much else."

"You know, 'he' is right here..." Eden sighed tiredly.

"Of course, but those are Reno's instructions on how to handle you, not your instructions in particular," Tseng replied in a dry tone. "These are yours. Most rooms don't have a particular method of organization, but some rooms might have a particular format they want you to follow. Reno will pass those instructions on to you once I have them. Do try your best to follow them so you don't have to re-do the work."

"'Kay, one thing, Boss," Reno cut in before Eden could reply. "I get the meals an' snacks, yo—but goin' to _get_ 'em will be a whole lotta walkin' he'd probably not be able ta do after midday. What then? I can't leave, yo, or I wouldn't be doin' _my_ job."

The Wutain had to blink at that, then nod and say, "You can call any of the Turks who are in the office that day to take something to the two of you. They aren't to stay to visit, not with _either_ of you. Eden will need some time tomorrow to deal with things, so the morning will go to—our new guests—and the afternoon after the Academy lets out to finding places for Alphonse and Miss Rockbell to live. I'll return Alphonse to your apartment tonight, Eden, and I'll need you in my office tomorrow morning for a chat before you start working out positions for these five."

"And what about the whole reason this started in the _first_ place?" Eden asked, his gaze hurt. "You've basically just negated any time or chance _to_ explain."

"No, I haven't," the Wutain replied. "I told you we would discuss it, and we will—that's part of the reason I can have Reno deliver you to whoever needs you. For now, I need time to calm down and to get the data to show you what's wrong with what you were doing in your paperwork. When _I'm_ ready in a few days, we'll go over it. In the meantime, you're not being disciplined for that, you're being disciplined for your childish behavior and out-right refusal to obey necessary orders, so your required task stands, regardless. (1) Both of you can go."

He knew Eden was in a rebellious mood as the blond pushed himself up and led the way from the room, but the fact that Reno had retracted his EMR by that point showed that he felt the blond wasn't going to retaliate right away. Hopefully, the work would actually keep Eden too tired to retaliate in the future as well, but he didn't want to count on it with the obstinate side the younger Turk had shown. As such, he felt Reno may have to draw his rod more than once during the time Eden would be slated for work, and he definitely couldn't have the other Turks visiting with the blond while he was working.

After a last check of the screens to make sure everything was in order (Izumi had collapsed and Sora was carrying her to the Hospital Wing), Tseng left the room, knowing Alphonse and Mei would have gotten to their office by that point—they'd left the library, as the screen there showed the room was pretty much empty.

When he got to the office, the two looked at him, then frowned in confusion as Al asked, "Where's Ed-en?" Cissnei and Freyra had returned to the room and were by the window as they whispered to each other, but stopped and looked up at the words.

"He put our operation at risk so he's serving disciplinary duty." When Alphonse's eyes widened and Mei looked worried, he said, "It's just sorting storage—the building has a great deal of it which needs to be sorted. Because he's starting so late tonight, he'll be working later than he would on a normal day. I'll take you to his apartment and let you in so you can get some sleep."

"But he couldn't have done anything worse than he did in Amestris!" Alphonse gasped.

"Likely not," Tseng agreed. "However, you aren't in Amestris, and neither of you qualifies as a child by our laws. As adults, actions have consequences, and bad behavior requires discipline. By the sounds of it, you were both given so much leniency in Amestris that you need to be reminded that you don't have such leniency _here_."

"But—" the blond began.

Mei touched his arm and he stopped, and the girl looked up at Tseng to say, "It's because he wasn't behaving like this before, and _we're_ the ones who ruined it, and you need to make us not change his behavior, even when we're with him. That's what you're trying to do, because if you don't, he could get too many people hurt or killed, even his new family, if he can't obey those orders."

Normally, Tseng would have refrained from answering something like that, but for a girl who was only eleven, he had to respect her intelligence. He already respected the discipline she had (though he'd found out first-hand that she could sometimes be _too_ creative), so he felt it would do her a disservice if he didn't acknowledge what assessment she'd reached.

"It isn't necessarily 'you' collectively, it's some people," Tseng answered. "And regardless of the cause, it has to be fixed on _his_ end, not on theirs. That's what I aim to do." She just nodded as Alphonse looked stricken. Tseng was really beginning to wonder what the bond between the brothers was, because neither of them was behaving quite logically or with normal reactions to one's siblings. "Come on, then. I'll drop you off, first, Alphonse," Tseng told them, motioning them to follow him.

They did, and were soon safely in their respective residences.

 **Notes:**

(1) I hope I succeeded at making the disciplinary action both something Ed would abhor doing again and humane enough that his only real complaint with it is that he wouldn't want to be doing it in the first place. In case anyone is wondering, I had Tseng specify what kinds of drinks Ed could have because he's trying to make sure he doesn't get dehydrated or something. I also hope I was clear enough in explaining the shift in Ed's behavior and Tseng's reason for giving him this task.

If anyone's puzzled by how sorting storage would be effective at getting the result Tseng is after, that will be noted at points during chapters when he's working. I only have plans to show 2 of those incidences in any detail, but if anyone wants to see more of Eden's work days, let me know. I'm currently assuming the 2 incidences I chose will get the required points across sufficiently, and no one else will want to read details about him cleaning up storage rooms in a huge building.

Yes, I realized I explained the details of the discipline in much more detail than people normally get when they get assigned one. My experiences are that, when someone clearly understands the reason for the discipline and what the rules are, and those rules are kept to, they are far more likely to learn from it than when they're given no actual clear data or rules, or the reason and/or rules they're given change on them. This is a mistake made by many parents, teachers, and other people in positions where giving discipline is a requirement—sometimes the action is okay and sometimes not, or is sometimes ignored, and often don't give the discipline they claimed they would, or change the rules because they feel like it. Tseng is being very clear here, in what he's disciplining Eden for, what the discipline is, and in how it will be handled, so even though Eden is angry, he can't actually fault him for what he's saying. Unless it changes.

On a side note—apparently many people associate the term 'punishment' with something which isn't justified (eg. abuse) or with physical blows, so I'm being very careful to use the term 'discipline' so there's no confusion of what this is, no matter who is reading it. I also know many readers won't care which term is used or don't define 'punishment' as 'abuse' or something physical, and normally, the word 'discipline' wouldn't be so exclusively used for this.


	20. 17-Disciplinary Duty

**A/N:** This ended up being a mix of Reno's and Eden's perspectives, with some sort of weird drift between them which somehow worked. I couldn't rewrite it to separate them out, even if I wanted to, so just keep in mind that you'll be getting some of the 'perspectives' of both of them.

Disciplinary Duty

First, Reno led Eden to the janitorial supply closet and found the cleaners he'd need, handing them to him so Eden had to carry them. It actually made Reno smirk to see the mixed confusion and rebelliousness on the blond's face, but he didn't say anything as he led the way to floor sixty-one to grab two bottles of water and a few snack bars, then to floor sixty-three and opened it up. The halls were empty and there were numbers on the walls of the various storage rooms, six of them on the floor, arranged in two rows of three and filling the whole floor other than the stairs, a space in front of the elevators, and the halls themselves.

"So, pick a room an' get started, yo," Reno said, motioning down the hall.

Eden found the room with the label '1' and waited for Reno to open the door—his hands were full, after all, and he didn't have an executive keycard which would access every locked door. Maybe his would open these, but because Reno didn't actually seem to expect him to open them, he didn't think his would. It made him wonder what was kept in them for even Turks to only have access after a certain rank. Though, he still could have done without having to sort them out.

Room one had boxes of what looked like scientific equipment—test tubes, beakers, needles, and many other glass goods which were used in great quantities in laboratories and hospitals. Boxes. Nothing but open (or closed) boxes scattered around the room, without even labels on them to say what was in them. (1) Some were stacked in under other boxes, but he had no way of knowing if the boxes underneath had been opened, let alone what was in them—it could have been the same items as on the top of the stack, or it could have been different ones.

"Fuck (2), Reno, do any of these rooms even _have_ shelves?" Eden glared while he mentally cursed, feeling a headache coming on.

"Don't think so, yo," the man shrugged.

"Then call Tseng and tell him all of these rooms are going to need enough shelves for at least one row against each wall and two rows, front and back, in the middle of the room," the blond answered, moving forward to start looking in the open boxes, mentally cataloging what was in them.

Reno's brow rose and he asked, "Ya know that at a glance, yo?"

"Yes, Reno, I know that at a glance. That's what happens when you practically grow up learning in libraries and labs. And we'll _need_ that much space, just to have a spot for each size of test tube and beaker I've found by looking in the boxes sitting open. Are you going to call him or not?"

"He can't get 'em tonight, yo. I'll tell 'im, and you'll probably get 'em tomorrow. In the meantime—we'll need places ta put 'em," Reno replied languidly, leaning on the wall by the door as he watched Eden move around the room to check the boxes.

When Eden glared at him for a moment before going back to work, he smirked—he _really_ liked watching angry people do work they didn't want to. Normally, he would have taunted the younger Turk—it was part of his nature—but Eden was a special case, and Reno _remembered_ how hard it had been to detach himself from his past when it had come back to bite him. It didn't excuse the blond's behavior, but it meant he didn't have much desire to add insult to injury, so he was just going to watch and keep to Tseng's rules. He wondered if Eden even realized the bottles of water and energy bars were for _him_ —Reno remembered the blond working so intently earlier that he'd missed lunch _and_ supper, and the younger Turk was bound to start feeling it soon.

Eden, on the other hand, was just more pissed off once the headache set in than when he'd started. Everything was covered in dust save a few recently-used boxes, so the first thing he had to do was use the duster, but he did that as he started moving boxes around. Largely, the first—and really only—thing he could do was move all of the items of one type to the same area, arranged more-or-less by size, from smallest to largest. As he moved boxes off the top, he found various assortments of open and sealed boxes, so started with open ones, because that was just a look and an allocation to a stack. In some cases, he moved same-size utensils from one open, half-full box to another open, half-full box, reducing the used boxes for the item type to one and creating an empty box he tossed into the corner near the door. He then started opening the sealed boxes to find out what they were.

As he was working, a man in a lab coat walked in and stopped to stare, so Eden called, "What are you looking for, type and size?"

"Um..." the man gaped, having lost his voice at the sight of the two Turks and the changes to the room.

"Spit it out, already! You're in my way!" the blond Turk barked, and the red haired one chuckled.

"You'd better just tell 'im, yo," Reno said to the man, making him start and blink.

Finally, he said timidly, "Fifty milliliter beakers and twenty milliliter test tubes."

The blond pointed to two piles in the corner across from the door and answered, "Beakers, furthest pile into the corner, fourth stack in from the outer edge, test tubes in the next pile over, third stack from the outer edge—outer edge is the one furthest from the wall."

With how prompt the answer had been, the scientist moved curiously over to the piles, found what he was looking for exactly where the Turk had said, and turned to look at the blond thoughtfully for a minute. On a whim, he checked the other piles and stacks—all of them around the room, ignoring the glare the blond sent him in his curiosity—then asked, "Are they going to stay in this order when you finish whatever you're doing?"

"Unless others don't keep to the pattern once it's set, yes," the blond answered. "Can you _please_ get out of my way now?" The red haired Turk was snickering again.

After a short pause, the scientist actually reached down to give Eden a quick hug as he said with feeling, " _Thank you!_ " Both Turks gaped at him as he quickly went back to the two boxes he needed, grabbed several of each item, and ran from the room with a grin on his face.

A minute of silence passed before Reno commented, "I don't think your buddies ever thanked ya like _that_ for cleanin' things up for 'em, yo."

"...They didn't," Eden agreed softly, then gave himself a shake and kept working. "Then again, things were always better-organized in Amestris, so this sort of situation never...happened..." And there was the crux of Ed's issue—Amestris and Gaia were two different places on two different worlds, and he had to work within Gaia's rules, not Amestris'. This was a point of separation between the two, a big one.

It had taken an hour to sort the room that much, but there was nothing more he could do, so after the last box was in its proper place, he rose and stretched out with a groan, then stood there and rubbed the back of his neck for a minute—then sneezed. The action had been so sudden he hadn't been able to stop it, or even get a hand over his mouth and nose, but it also made him suddenly aware of how dry his mouth was.

Suddenly, there was a bottle of water being held in front of him, making Eden looked up at Reno in questioning surprise. The red haired teen shrugged and said, "Got 'em for you 'cause I knew you'd need 'em, yo."

Eden blinked, then blinked again, then slowly reached out to take the bottle and open it. After he drank about half the bottle, he replaced the cap and looked up at Reno as he said softly, "Thanks." His stomach then grumbled—loudly—making the blond blush and the redhead smirk, then offer him the energy bars he'd gotten with the water. Eden stared at them for a moment, then looked questioningly at Reno, who gave him a nod, so the younger Turk took the bars—and practically inhaled them, barely remembering to take the packaging off, first. "...Thanks again," he said after finishing.

When the red haired man nodded, Eden looked around and said, "I can't do any more here until I have shelves. What do I do with the empty boxes?"

"Just shove 'em into the hall, yo. Janitors will take 'em," Reno replied with a shrug.

"How long do I still have to work tonight?" Eden asked.

"'Bout an hour," Reno answered after checking his PHS quickly.

With a sigh, Eden took one more gulp of water, then pushed the water bottle back into Reno's hands (who took it in mild surprise), and began gathering the cleaning supplies. "Next room to do the same thing, then."

He began shoving the empty boxes towards the door with his feet, and Reno went to said door to open it and hold it open while the blond moved the boxes to the hall. Rather than leaving them in a random, scattered heap, he organized them a little into a semi-stack against the wall beside the door, then headed for the room labeled as '2'. In that room, he found a similar state to the first room, but the contents of the boxes were Materia. And each box had more than one type of Materia mixed up in it, all with no labels again, making him sigh in something like defeat.

"Somethin' wrong?" Reno asked from where he lounged by the door again.

"This is going to take a lot more work than the other room. But really, how does Shinra even _function_ if they don't even know how to package only one type of Materia in a single box?"

"Could be people puttin' 'em back in the wrong places, yo," the red haired teen offered.

"If this was, say, the SOLDIER training room storage or a place like that, I'd readily believe that. This is product storage, not usage storage. If they get taken out from here, they _don't_ get put back. One box of Materia shouldn't have Fire, Restore, _and_ Seal Materia in it, it should have Fire _or_ Restore _or_ Seal in it."

Reno barked out a laugh, then said, "So fix it, yo!"

Eden sighed but set to work, doing the same thing as he had in the last room, only with the added task of going through every single Materia orb to find out what it was and allocate it to a box. One thing he knew was that he probably wouldn't be done with this room as quickly as he had the first...

SH

When he got back to his room later than expected that night, Al was right in front of him (he looked like he'd just woken from sleep, at least) as soon as he closed the door, saying, "You're all right, no one hurt you? They kept you longer than Tseng said, and he already made you work too late, and—"

"Shut up, Al," Eden sighed, pushing past the younger blond as he stripped off his black uniform jacket. He then stopped and looked at it, then down at himself, as he realized it—and he—was covered in dust. What should have been black looked dark gray, and he knew he'd have to check his own appearance, because there was a strong likelihood he'd have to shower before going to bed.

"Ed..." Al began.

"I'm tired, I'm sore, I'm dirty, and I really just can't deal with anything else tonight," Eden answered sharply.

"...You're an hour past midnight. That wasn't just from walking between there and here, so—your watcher made you work longer, didn't he?" Al asked with a glare, at least wanting that much answered.

"Al, I only _stopped_ because Reno realized the time and _stopped me_ ," Eden glared at his brother, who stared in surprise. "And I'm not in the mood tonight, so just—don't push me." He then headed for his room and went to the bathroom. A look in the mirror before using the toilet told him he did indeed need to shower. With a sigh, he did so, then grabbed a shirt and boxers so he could finally get into bed and get some sleep.

In the morning, Al shook him awake, and when the younger blond saw his brother's gold eyes focus on him with an annoyed, tired glare, Al said, "It's a little after seven. I'm not sure exactly when your work day starts, but I'm going to have to go eat soon to get to class on time."

The blond Turk took a moment to process the words, then heaved a heart-felt sigh and got up to get ready for the day, wishing he didn't have that be-damned ache in his joints yet again. He didn't have to shower, at least, because he already had the night before, but he was left with the question of what to do with his suits so they didn't keep getting full of dust. For that morning, though, he had to first work out the situation with the other five Amestrians, so he needed a proper, clean suit (and was it just his imagination, or did they feel tighter, too?). Once dressed, he looked for Al, who was wearing the Shinra Academy uniform—which still left him with a mind-boggling feeling—and waiting by the door with a backpack at his feet and a book in his hands.

"I guess that means you're ready to go?" he asked the fifteen-year-old in a dry tone.

"I've just been waiting for you," Al answered, then shut his book, leaned down to stick it in his bag, and picked the bag up to throw the strap over his shoulder. "How far do you need to come with me?"

"Technically, for you leaving, I didn't have to," Ed answered, leading the way from his apartment. "But we can probably both eat in the main cafeteria if you don't want to use the Academy one today."

"Sure," Al agreed. He watched as Eden yawned while they made their way down the hall, then asked, "Will everyone really be allowed to have jobs and things if they damaged the building?"

"They'll be fine, Al. It's just a matter of them deciding what they want to do. And do me a favor and don't go around telling people about the combo I had Zack Master for you and Mei," the blond Turk answered.

"...Okay, I won't mention it," Al agreed.

They were silent until they reached the cafeteria, where Ed led his brother through the line, then looked for a table to sit at—only to see a very peeved Rufus Shinra glaring at him from most of the way across the room. Since Sephiroth was beside him, Eden knew Rufus was having trouble dealing with the silver-haired man, and was probably also very upset that Eden hadn't been reassigned to him yet. Leading Al over to the table where Rufus sat, Eden dropped into the seat across from his charge while Al sat beside him, a confused and curious look on his face.

"So, have you been behaving yourself, Rufus?" Eden asked plainly.

The older blond replied in bland monotone, "Yes, Mother, I've been a perfect angel."

Al gaped at them as Sephiroth commented with twitching lips, "Your exchanges certainly never become dull."

"Of course, both Rufus and I know a Shinra doesn't know the meaning of the words 'perfect angel'," the Turk shrugged. "At least he hasn't done anything to risk his health and well-being, though, has he?"

"No, he has not gone so far—yet. I suspect it will only be a matter of time. The sooner you are reassigned to him, the better," Sephiroth answered.

Rufus gave an irritated huff. "Of course, I'd _love_ to have him back, because he _lets_ me do all those things _you_ don't."

"Or I make you choose not to do it because it's really not worth it," Eden answered, fighting to hold back a smile as he began eating, and Al followed suit a moment later.

Rufus' glare was withering for a moment before he asked in a mostly neutral and mildly curious tone, "So who is _this_ Academy student you've brought here with you?"

"In this case, this is a temporary arrangement," the blond Turk said. "Meet Alphonse Elric. Today's his first full day of classes." His gaze moved to Al as he said, "This is Rufus Shinra, the President's son and my usual assignment for guard duty."

For a long minute, the two blue-eyed blonds gazed evenly at one another, until Al said, "It's nice to meet you."

"Likewise," Rufus relented, then looked at Eden and asked, "A relative?"

"Take a guess, but I'm not going to answer you here," the younger Turk shrugged.

"Will he be joining the Turks any time soon?" the blond in white questioned thoughtfully.

"No, and no, he wouldn't let you get away with any more than I do—in fact, he'd let you get away with _less_ because he's a much more meticulous and cautious person than I am," the golden-eyed blond stated, and Al chuckled.

"I guess that's _something_ which hasn't changed," Al commented in amusement.

With a small sigh, Rufus dropped that topic to ask, "When will you be taking up guard duty again?"

"Umm...A few more days. You'll probably have to check with Tseng for the exact date, because I'm pretty sure I've lost a day or two somewhere in all the chaos since we got back from Wutai," the Turk answered.

Sephiroth's brow rose as he said, "This would be the third day since we returned."

"Just the third? Wow, it feels more like a week..." Ed sighed deeply, finishing his meal quickly. His gaze met Al's as he said, "I trust you remember the floor you need for the Academy and can find your way there from here, Al?"

"Yeah—but what about you?" the younger blond asked as the older rose. "You never _did_ tell me when you start work."

"Turks are on-call, and we're still in the middle of sorting something, so I was technically never off duty," Eden replied dryly. He turned to Sephiroth and Rufus as he said, "I'm going to be busy for a good part of the morning with Tseng and the five who came in last night, then I have—disciplinary duty—so you'll have to go through him if you want to meet with me anytime in the near future. See you later."

With that, Ed turned and left, the others staring after him in surprise for a few moments before beginning a tentative discussion without him.

It was Rufus who opened said discussion with, "How are you finding your Academy classes? Easy? Hard?"

"So far, not bad, but it's not like I have much to base it on yet," Al replied, focusing more on his food than on the two across from him. But then he had to ask, "Did you go to the Academy or did you have a private tutor? I don't think you go there now or I'd probably have seen you yesterday."

"I had some classes there, but it was mostly a tutor," the older blond answered. His gaze then became a frown as he said suddenly, "You're the reason he hasn't been returned to guard duty yet."

Sephiroth released a small sigh as Alphonse blinked and froze, then set his fork down and looked up at Rufus with an intensity neither of the older men expected to see. "I don't see that you have any right to complain about his personal life. Frankly, you don't know that much about him—but he _always_ puts his family and friends before his job, and _you're_ _just_ a job to him." (3)

Rufus stiffened for a moment before his glare turned as hard as flint and he replied in a cold, clipped tone, "Mind your tongue. On the note of what we do or do not know about Eden, you seem to have missed the obvious fact that he certainly is not opposed to spending time with me outside his job. You don't know him as well as you think you do—and _you weren't there_ when he was laying in a hospital bed for weeks while the doctors tried to repair his collapsed ribcage. _I was_. _You're_ just the poor little estranged _brother_."

The younger blond blinked, then his gaze narrowed and his lips formed a tiny smirk. "Of course, if I'd been here to know he was in the hospital, I'd have been there, too. As for the 'estranged brother' part, you don't know anything about how or why we parted ways, so saying we're 'estranged' is pretty careless. On a side note, he and I had the same teacher. If _he_ can kick your ass—and I _know_ he can, probably _has_ , too—then so can I. Care to test the theory, you arrogant sod?"

Rufus started to rise in anger, but Sephiroth gripped his arm and ordered, "Sit down and finish your meal, Mr. Shinra. You have a meeting to attend this morning, and arriving there tousled will send entirely the wrong image." As Rufus sat back down with a huff, the General's eyes turned to the boy as he said, "Alphonse, perhaps Eden never told you the significance of being the Shinra Company President's son. What you just did could have earned you execution, and the only defense you currently have is that Rufus has no desire to have Eden angry with him. Do not test your luck."

"Hm, so Eden gets to talk to him that way but no one else does? _Very nice_. People in power never change," Al shrugged, going back to his meal. Neither of the older men missed the sarcasm in his voice.

"Listen, you—" Rufus began with gritted teeth.

"Mr. Shinra," Sephiroth cut him off with another small sigh. He then turned to look at Alphonse again as he said, "Do _not_ do this in a public place again."

After a moment, Rufus shoved his plate away and rose, saying, "Let's get to the meeting, then." He turned as the General rose, then paused and looked over his shoulder at Al. "This isn't over."

With a small grin, the younger blond replied, "It would have been too easy if it was."

Rufus replied with an amused half-smile as he agreed, "Yes, it would have." He then walked away, Sephiroth following close behind him.

Half-way to his father's office, while they were in the elevator, Rufus blinked, then gave a chuckle and said, "Well, the family resemblance shows in personality as well as looks, doesn't it, General?"

"I beg your pardon?" Sephiroth asked in confusion at the sudden address.

"Alphonse Elric—he has the same sort of spunk and verbal sparring ability as Eden," Rufus clarified.

"I would not know. I have never been required to verbally spar with either, nor witnessed another do so until now. That seems to be a trait unique to you, Rufus," the silver haired man answered with a faint smile. "Though, it _does_ seem to create an issue if you allow one to do it and not the other."

"It annoys me that Eden does it, but—well, it isn't necessarily all bad. Still..." Rufus paused and scowled. "He's taking Eden's time away from me, and _that_ I can't abide."

Sephiroth sighed tiredly and informed the President's son, "Even had Eden not suddenly had his estranged family returned to him, he would not have been returned to duty on you until at least two days from now. You may request from Tseng his plan for Eden upon his return from Wutai, though I know he hadn't been intended to work much, if at all, for some days."

Rufus gazed sidelong at the taller man for a minute before saying, "Alphonse didn't know that, either." His expression became a smirk. "Interesting."

He said nothing further, causing Sephiroth to hold back yet another sigh at the blonds' (both Rufus' and Alphonse's) behavior. After all, he truly had no idea what they were fighting over. Family was family, and with all the crossover between his, Genesis' and Angeal's families, why Alphonse and Rufus couldn't seem to do the same with Eden just made no sense at all to him.

 **Notes:**

(1) In the FFVII main game, these rooms are a holy terror of a mess, especially to try to navigate (even without taking into account the security doors which are present and active to get in your way in the game so you have to use the vent systems to get into them), and it truly makes me wonder how they function if 'organization' is so lax. And yes, I strongly believe this would piss Ed off because he's used to being able to find what he's looking for easily.

(2) Eden doesn't normally swear, but right now, he's in an extremely bad mood and just got a headache at the thought of the workload he now has to deal with. Reno is more likely to swear for no reason in particular, but even the mildest person will occasionally swear when they're angry, tired, and have a headache.

(3) I could completely see Al doing this, largely because he's having so much trouble adapting to things on the Planet and actually feels threatened by the others his brother obviously cares about.


	21. 18-Mustang's Crew

Mustang's Crew

Eden quickly headed to the Turks' office from the cafeteria, stepping inside to see several familiar faces while they all worked intently and tiredly on things at their desks. Reno was the only one to acknowledge him enough to give a smirk and wave, then point at the open door to Tseng's office. Giving the red haired Turk a small wave in recognition, he made his way to the door, stopping at it for a moment as he saw the PHS in Tseng's hand. He was about to close the door when the Wutain held a hand up to stop him, eyes focused on the blond.

At the moment, Tseng was listening to something on the other end, but it didn't take long before he said, "So that's what happened. Fine, head back here to get some rest, and we'll work out what to do once you've recovered." Moments later, he hung up the phone and looked up at Eden. "Is there a particular reason you aren't coming in and sitting like you should—would normally—have done?"

"Shouldn't I close the door?" Eden asked in reply.

"Not right now," the Wutain answered. When Ed didn't move, he ordered, "Sit."

The younger Turk thought petulantly that he should just sit where he was, but decided it would be better to move over to the chair he usually sat in across from the man. As he sat, he wondered why it seemed fine to have everyone in the other room hear everything they said this time, and oddly enough, having the open door (1) made him wary. It was also part of the reason why he hesitated to be—childish and take the order completely the wrong way very deliberately.

After a silence, Eden asked, "So, the five Amestrians are here now. Did any do anything as interesting as M—Kamil did?"

"No, not so far," Tseng answered. His dark eyes were staying on him with an unsettling intensity. "Mrs. Curtis was taken to the Hospital Wing rather than here, though, because she fought until she collapsed." He paused, then said, "The doctors gave me a very interesting report on her general health. Apparently, about half of her internal organs are missing from her body?"

"They are, and have been for—about sixteen or seventeen years. No, an ordinary person wouldn't have lived, let alone for so long, but she's not an 'ordinary' person," Eden answered evenly. "If she really kept fighting for so long, it doesn't surprise me she had to be taken to the Hospital Wing. Anything else?"

"We've already spoken with them about the things the Briggs men wanted to know, other than Mrs. Curtis, some of us last night and some of us this morning. I told them to start thinking about what they may want to do, from opening a shop or going into research or the usual military options. You're the one who will finish explaining the world situation and work out their positions so we can finalize this. It would be best to start with the ones here because Mrs. Curtis hasn't woken yet. Do you know how she lost so many of her internal organs?"

"By trying to bring her stillborn son back to life," Ed answered flatly. "The Gate and Truth _aren't_ forgiving when people try to play God. She got as close to Al and me as she did because we were around the same age her son would have been if he'd lived, but the price she paid to try to bring him back meant she could never have children herself from then on, so the best she got was to adopt them. Until she took us on, she never forged a bond like that with any other kids, even though she helped their parents take care of them, and part of the reason she forged it with us was because she had been hoping to keep us from making the same foolish mistake she did. You already know how _that_ turned out."

"I see," Tseng answered, then gave a small nod. "Do you think she'd be willing to take on a promising student or two—mainly for martial arts, but she's welcome to teach them anything she wants—regardless of the place she takes in our society?"

"...It's possible, if they're orphans and have a determination to better themselves," Eden answered slowly. "I can't give a definitive answer, though, because she may flat-out refuse if it's for the purpose of having them join the Turks or SOLDIER in the future."

The man looked a little amused as he said, "No, those wouldn't be the only options or reasons, and yes, the two children I'm thinking about are orphans she would legally adopt. Before you went to Wutai and managed to end a years-long war for us, their only real options probably would have been the Turks or SOLDIER. Now, they're also able to join Gaia's Refuge or the Guardian's Forces—what Emperor Godo's army has been generally renamed to. The elite of those are still Crescent Unit, though. The renaming of the military now defending the resort towns and Wutai was part of the agreement between him and President Shinra."

The words were a little amusing, but Eden shrugged as he said, "Good to know, and it makes it more likely she'll agree to take on one or both, but I still can't say for sure. If no one's had a chance to talk with her yet, let me be the first one besides the doctors or I can guarantee you she'll just walk out, healed or not."

Tseng inclined his head in recognition, then said, "I'll let you know when she wakes up, then. You're free to go talk with them, since I have medical arrangements to make for Alvis after his mission. And Eden, the shelves you wanted should be there by the time you get there. Is there anything else organizational you need?"

A golden glower met his dark gaze as the blond Turk answered with a near-snarl, "A permanent marker and orders to every production facility in and outside the city to _put labels on their fucking boxes_! Because I'm _not_ going to do this again, even under orders, if there aren't any labels next time I get put in there."

With raised brows, the Wutain commented, "That makes it sound like you're _expecting_ to be disciplined like this again. It's not an encouraging thought."

"Knowing you, now that you've found something I loathe doing, you're _always_ going to make me do this as your means of disciplining me. Don't try to say you won't. And you're putting a lot of faith in me never doing something worthy of being disciplined for ever again when you know as well as I do that probably won't happen when I'm _only_ sixteen."

At the words, the older Turk inclined his head, lips twitching, as he said, "Point taken. I'll give them the order, and if I know Reno, he's already found a suitable marker, or will have by the time you're done with the Amestrians."

"Good to know. I'm done now," Eden answered, rising—and even more irritated by the reference to Reno and the open office door. The worst part was that he didn't know why it bothered him so much that the door had been open, other than possibly because he didn't like the change in pattern.

As he headed out, Tseng said, "If it's nearly noon by the time you're done, head straight to lunch and go back to organizing after you've eaten."

Eden's only response was a bit of a wave to let the Wutain Turk know he'd heard him. He then headed to the four guarded offices around the corner down the hall and blinked when he realized the guards this time were three Turks (Freyra, Cissnei, and Rude) and a SOLDIER—Kunzel, unless he was missing something. He asked the four of them, "Have you been here all night?"

"Nope, we just got here for guard duty about an hour ago," Freyra answered cheerfully as the others gave him amused looks. "But Tseng remembered what happened with Kamil, so he thought it was better for us to guard 'Turk-trained Infantrymen' while they were awake and aware. Who do you want to start with?"

For a moment, Eden hesitated, then said, "Hawkeye." After all, at times she had been motherly to him, and she was fairly easy to get along with for a discussion.

"Here, then," the brown haired woman grinned as she flicked a thumb at the door she stood in front of. Rude was at the next door down and Cissnei was across the hall from her, with Kunzel at the door across from Rude.

With a nod, Eden moved to that door, opened it, and stepped into the room. It was just like all the other times he'd stepped into the 'interrogation rooms', but with Hawkeye sitting at the table, an empty plate in front of her. The woman's dark blue eyes widened when she saw him, and he noted how she had her hair down now, rather than up in the not-quite-bun she usually kept it in, her bangs the same as always. It was also obvious she had no weapons on her, though she was otherwise just as he'd seen her in the video feeds from the Turks' cameras.

"Edward—a Turk?" she asked him in surprise, and he held a hand to his head tiredly.

" _Why_ does everyone feel the need to question that?" he asked petulantly as he dropped his hand to glare at her.

Her gaze turned amused as she said, "Because I—we—never took you as the type to kill on command. Especially not for a _company_."

"Well, I wasn't about to join the Science Department while a sadist is in power there, and the Turks and the Science Department are my only two free passes to research and data. In that, the Turks even trump the Science Department unless something is deliberately being kept from us," Eden replied. He moved over to sit at the table and commented, "My boss told me you've been updated on the different positions in Shinra or society you're most likely to want. I'm here to find out if you have another option or a preference."

At the words, Hawkeye's brow rose and she asked, "Straight into work without a social visit? How unlike you."

Ed's expression turned sour as he said, "I got into trouble and have disciplinary duty after this—I know my boss, and he's really only giving me until noon to sort all of you out."

For a minute, the woman was quiet, then she said softly, "While it's good to know we're essentially being handed free livelihoods, I can't help but wonder why. And why were several of us brought along to Amestris when we weren't even on or near the array?"

"Apparently, for Truth, being in the same room counts as being 'near enough to' it, just like the ones who can be designated to pay the price of a transmutation don't have to be the ones activating the array," the sixteen-year-old sighed. "Part of the 'why you' is that you have blood in you which allows you to function here. I'll start by giving you a run-down of things as they stand." He then explained to her the world situation and Chaos and Omega Theory, finishing up with, "And all of you are here because you'll be able to help fix things. The Turks and top SOLDIERs know all that, and are trying to gather as many allies as they can to fix the things which need to be fixed with as little death as possible. To do that, you need livelihoods."

For several long moments, the woman met his gaze, then asked, "Have you ever regretted your decision to get involved, let alone by joining the Turks?"

"What am I supposed to regret? This is my home now, and if things stay the way they are, the world will die," he replied with a sharp tone.

There was sadness in her eyes as she reached across the table to rest her hand on his arm, saying, "But you've done things you regret, nonetheless. I'm a solider, Edward, in the truest sense of the words, and I know what it means to obey ruthless orders—and to regret having done so. What happened?"

"It's Eden now," he muttered, glaring at the tabletop as she raised a brow slightly, but her gaze was no less worried or sad. Finally, after a minute, he sighed and said, "Look, I just had to relive this with Al, so I'd rather not talk about it again so soon."

"...You told Alphonse about the horrors of your job?" The thought disturbed her for more than one reason, knowing how hard the younger, gentler brother would have taken whatever those horrors were. For Ed—en to have opened the door to that world for Al was also alarming in itself because they were both still children, and Ed was usually so very protective of his brother.

"...He needed to understand how much I've changed in the last five months, Hawkeye." The gold gaze caught and held hers with an intensity which surprised her. "I always intellectually knew what it meant to be a soldier, but in Amestris, no one ever enforced it on me. Sometimes things happen and there's no choice left anymore, and with my usual alchemy out of the equation here—let's just say there were no corners I could cut to avoid obeying those orders, unspoken or otherwise. Now, I can fully grasp what the job means from experience. He wanted me to be just like I'd been before, and even though some of my bad habits tried to come back—may still do so—I can still never be the person I had been before."

"Did he need to know that while still a child?" she asked quietly.

The corners of his lips turned up in a mirthless smile and he said, "Both Shinra and Wutai designated fourteen as the 'age of majority', and once you hit fourteen, you're disciplined like any adult and expected to behave like one. If I don't open his eyes now, he's going to walk into a bloodbath with no way to wrap his mind around it. I know I hurt him, Hawkeye, but I'd rather drop things on him in some degree of safety and give him some time to sort them out than to have him walk into it suddenly with no forewarning. With things the way they are right now, he wouldn't have been able to stay ignorant for long, and I'd rather not see him break because of what kinds of horrors happen here if no one keeps them in check."

Pausing to think about the point Eden was making, she then asked, "Things like the Ravens, you mean?" Her hand released his arm as she sat back.

"Plenty besides those, but yes, that's one we're going to have to face," the blond sixteen-year-old agreed. "Which is why we need all the help we can get."

Hawkeye slowly nodded, then asked, "Everyone is safe, yes? Have you been able to talk with Roy yet?"

"You're the first one I'm talking to, and yes—everyone's safe," the boy agreed. "I know you're likely to take whatever position the Bastard tells you to take, but if you were to choose for yourself, what would it be?"

She looked amused by the question as she answered, "Myself, likely the Turks—as much as Gaia's Refuge has its good points, I prefer something with a more stable, solid structure, and I'd be able to use and develop my sniper skills more with the Turks than anywhere else. Learning to use a sword doesn't sit well with me, either."

"Nothing on a more civilian end?" he asked in amusement.

"There are very few jobs which would appeal to me on that end after all the years I've been with the military," the older, blond woman answered with something like a shrug. "Of course, if Roy chooses SOLDIER or the Infantry and wants me with him, I'll go, even if that means learning skills I don't care for."

"I think you should know one other thing about SOLDIER, though—something people like Tseng and Genesis don't know because they never saw the Alchemist's Gate like those of us from Amestris did," Ed told her, and she blinked, then nodded. "If you get the Mako infusions, you're going to start hearing the voice—voices?—of the Lifestream. I think short-term you'd be able to handle the influx of information, but Mako is liquid Lifestream, which is this world's spirit energy, like Mei's veins of the dragon, so if any of us gets an infusion of it, we won't be able to shut off that influx. You may have to choose something of your own accord regardless of Mustang's decision if he goes for SOLDIER, because as was said to me by someone else who has that ability, not everyone can handle it—even if _Mustang_ can, that doesn't mean _you_ can."

Blinking several times in surprise, the woman looked away into the distance for a minute while she thought. Finally, she said, "You'll need to talk with Mustang, then. As much as you're probably right that I could do it short-term, I doubt I'd be able to handle having any other voices in my head for long. My preference is still the Turks unless there's a specific other position he wants me to take."

Eden grinned at the words and said, "I knew it."

"What did you know?"

"You'd pick the Turks. All it will mean is that you're going to have a very short sign-in process," the younger blond answered, pushing himself to his feet. "And you'll be able to skip basic training because you already went up against a Turk and held your own. But, I'll talk with Mustang and return to you with his word before I tell Tseng to sign you up with us. I'll be back later."

"Thank you, Ed—en," the woman said as he headed out the door.

Outside, once the door had closed behind him, Freyra asked, "So, did she make a decision?"

"A tentative one which depends on Mustang to finalize," the younger Turk answered, making the others give wry grins.

"Here, then," Rude said, motioning at the door behind him.

"Yeah—I want to talk with Fuery first, though, since he's probably going to do the same thing as Hawkeye and I'd rather not have more discussions with the Bastard than I _have_ to," Eden answered with a bit of a grin at the older man, who gave a nod of understanding.

"Mine, then," Cissnei smiled. Eden stepped up beside her, but stopped as her hand rested on his arm. She gazed at him for a moment before saying barely above a whisper, "I don't know what got into you last night, but _please_ don't do something like that again—we can't protect you if you start breaking obvious rules or ignoring logical orders. Okay?"

He blinked at her in surprise for a minute before giving a faint smile and saying softly, "Thanks, and I'm sorry for being such an ass and making you worry." With an answering smile, her hand dropped from his arm, so he stepped into the room—

To see Fuery fiddling with the window locks after having dragged the chair over to the window. He closed the door and asked dryly, "Trying to escape? Really?"

Fuery started and nearly lost his balance in the process, causing a 'whoa' and cartwheeling arms before he managed to control his drop off the chair to land on his feet on the floor. The black haired man straightened his glasses, then looked up at Eden with a wry smile as he said, "No, not trying to escape, just get some light in here. What are you doing here, Fullmetal?" The man's eyes scanned over the blond's black suit with mild surprise, but he said nothing about it.

"It's Eden now," the Turk answered dryly. "And I'm here to help you work out what kind of job, what kind of livelihood, you're going to have here. Were you told this was a one-way trip?"

"M—Roy indicated that's probably what it was," Fuery agreed. "He didn't want to worry the kids until he had enough data to know for sure, but he let Riza and I know because we would be most responsible for our livelihoods and the kids." He moved the chair back over to the table while talking and sat as he finished, so Ed sat across from him.

"So, I was told you were given details of combat positions you could take, but part of what I'm here for is to find out if there's anything else you'd like to do, something I should pass on to Tseng and Mustang for you," Eden explained. "Also, there are some _other_ things you need to know." He then gave Fuery all the same data he'd given Hawkeye before, including what the Mako infusion would do to them.

For a minute, Fuery frowned thoughtfully, arms crossed over his chest, until he finally said, "I'm—a communications person, and normally my first choice would be something like laying phone lines, but the technology here is—beyond what I know how to work with. I may have to default to a military position otherwise."

Ed's brow rose momentarily, then he said, "Give me a minute to see if I can pull a few strings." He then pulled out his PHS, picked Tseng's number, and dialed it.

"What's the matter, Eden?" the Wutain's familiar voice asked.

"I was right and Fuery's a communications person through-and-through, but his one deterrent to that is in learning the technology Shinra has. What kinds of positions do you think you can get him, and what training would he need for them?" Fuery's eyes were intent on the device he held to his ear as he talked, the interest in them obvious.

"There's potential of someone giving him some lessons before he starts a position in our marketing and media department. For training, I think we could get Reeve to assign him a newcomer as a teacher in technology for a week or two before he starts. Depending on the path he takes through that system, his job could range from setting up things like press conferences to working out the wiring and programing for recordings to go to the public to acting as our switchboard operator to generally making sure lights and communication wires don't go out. At first, it would start on the low end of largely running errands or double-checking wiring, but there are some holes to fill right now, so he'll have a place there. The sooner he starts work, the sooner he'll be able to continue independent studies in our libraries."

"That sounds like it'll be a nice fit. Thanks, Tseng," Eden agreed, then hung up and pocketed it.

His gaze met Fuery's excited, interested gaze as the man said, "I've seen PHS's in use before, but haven't had the chance to use one. Will I be able to if I join Shinra?"

"Yeah, in just about any position here," the blond answered in amusement. "More if you go into the marketing and media department. Tseng told me they need a lot of positions filled, and that there's a good chance someone from the Urban Development Department will be able to give you a week or two of training to get you up to speed before you start. Once you start, you'll have ID to give you access to the libraries for more independent studies on the topics. Interested?"

"Marketing and media?" Fuery asked cautiously. "I'm not into public representation positions, especially not when that will require lying."

"Most of the jobs Tseng listed were types of wiring and depend on the direction you take through the department," Eden answered. "You'd probably like being a switchboard operator, but you'd really have to check with them about your options when you start unless your teacher can tell you all the things you could do."

"I see. In that case, unless Mustang needs or wants me somewhere else, I'd go with that option," the black haired man agreed.

Rising, the blond gave a nod and said, "I'll check in with Mustang, then, and tell you his answer." As he rose, he paused and raised a brow to say, "Please stop trying to open the windows, though, because they were sealed for a _reason_."

"All right," the man grinned in amusement.

Eden left the room, then turned to face the door behind Rude...and stopped.

 **Notes:**

(1) This open door isn't actually open because of Eden's potential behavior, it's open to remind Tseng not to act on the anger he's still trying to manage while he has to deal with Eden, at least for the morning. From Eden's perspective, though, it gets twisted into something it's not. We're ALL guilty of this from time to time! :D


	22. 19-Making Arrangements

Making Arrangements

Eden's expression was a little pinched as he eyed the door behind Rude with mixed anxiety and disgust. What did he want to have happen? It was pretty much a guarantee that Mustang was going to start pushing his buttons and make him flip his lid. Making him react would be Mustang's stress relief, and it would probably make his own—disciplinary tasks—worse because he could do real damage to the building. It felt like he would be walking to his doom if he approached the door.

"All right, Eden?" Cissnei asked worriedly as he just stood beside her and stared across and down the hall to the door behind Rude.

"...Nearly every time I met with Mustang in the past, we'd end up destroying something because he likes to push my buttons and make me angry. Now won't be any different, and I'm in enough trouble already as it is..." Eden muttered.

When Cissnei's eyes turned to Rude, the man called, "Come here, Eden."

Tentatively, Eden approached the man, trying not to acknowledge the door behind him, and when he was close enough, Rude rested his hand on the top of the blond's head. As Ed's eyes closed, the man told him softly, "Stay grounded, just like now."

The blond's lips quirked a bit as he murmured, "I have to really remember I'm not— _there_ anymore."

"There?" Kunzel asked curiously from across the hall. If Eden remembered correctly, not only did Kunzel have the width of the hall in his favor, but some of the SOLDIER enhancements included more acute hearing, smell, taste, touch, and so on.

"His home before Shinra," Rude answered, Ed still under his hand, eyes closed as he grounded himself with the gentle weight on his head.

Finally, after a few minutes, Eden felt steady and calm, so he opened his eyes and met Rude's gaze (as much as he could behind the man's sunglasses). "Thanks. I feel better. Here's to hoping he can't push those buttons now." Rude nodded and dropped his hand, then moved aside to let Eden enter the room behind him.

When the teen first stepped inside, Mustang stared in something like shock, but a few moments after the door closed, the older man glared coldly and bit out, "Nice of you to show your face, you short-sighted, short-tempered, short-lived, pint-sized pipsqueak."

Feeling his eye tick, Eden waited for the anger and the explosion to come—but it didn't. There was a blank where the anger would usually have been, though he still felt a sense of irritation at the taunting and rudeness in general. When was the last time he hadn't reacted to a single 'short' word, let alone a string of them, related to him? Well, there had been him not reacting to Teacher calling him 'runt' if he'd done something wrong, and when he'd thought Selim was a normal human boy, he hadn't reacted (much) to the boy calling him 'the little Alchemist', but otherwise...He didn't think there was one. The 'short' references just didn't seem to matter so much to him. Had it really only taken being away from the constant insults for five short (or long) months...? (1) It was shocking, and by the way Mustang's eyes widened, he was apparently just as surprised by the lack of reaction.

After a pause, Ed's brow rose and a grin found its way to his face as he asked, "Are you done, Flame Bastard?"

The man, who had been standing behind the table (probably pacing), moved over to the nearest chair and sat, asking in a shrewd tone and with a shrewd gaze, "So who are you and what did you do with Fullmetal?"

"Funny," the blond replied, crossing his arms and raising a brow. "And it's actually Eden now. This was sort of a surprise to me, too—I figured for sure I'd be at your throat if you pushed my buttons like you usually do. Guess those buttons don't work anymore. Good thing—I'm in enough trouble as it is."

"You're in trouble why?" the black haired man asked with a raised brow.

"I almost ruined last night's operation to capture you lot," the Turk shrugged. "And I can safely say my boss found something I never want to have to do again." Mustang's familiar smirk made him want to cringe, thinking the man would try other buttons instead.

Rather than that, Mustang's expression quickly became shrewd again as he asked, "How are Riza and Kain?"

"Fine. They have preferences for work they'd like to do, but they're waiting for word from you on that. I have some things to go over with you before we get into that, though, because I know you'll both need and want the data I can give you," Eden told him.

"What information could you have which hasn't already been given to me?" the older man questioned, almost seeming amused for some reason.

With a shrug, the blond Turk explained to him the recent events, Chaos and Omega Theory, and the workings of the Mako and Lifestream which applied to SOLDIER for someone who had seen the Gate. By the time he was done, Mustang wasn't smirking or amused anymore, but his gaze was intent and thoughtful as he assessed all the new information he'd been given. After several minutes of sitting in silence, the man gave a slow nod and sighed as he rubbed his eyes tiredly with his thumb and forefinger.

Finally, he gave another sigh and looked up at Eden to say, "If you're right about the effect of the Mako on us, I'm going to take SOLDIER. Whether I'll be able to handle those 'voices', I don't know, but it's the single best method of getting data I currently have, so I won't pass that up. And I want the chance to learn those tricks with fire that—Commander of yours knows. What did Riza and Kain want to do?" Eden explained their stances to him, and he slowly nodded. "Data dealing and handling. As long as they plan on keeping me updated, that's fine. Somehow, I'm not surprised Riza would take the Turks, and it won't hurt her to improve her spy skills. There's also value in Kain's path if it would give him the ability to apply wire taps."

"Okay, then—I'll call Genesis to come and get you because you're going to end up being termed a 'Mage', so he's your best bet to get up to speed fast," Eden offered, pulling his PHS out of his pocket. "Once I've done that, I can let the folks outside in the hall take care of Hawkeye and Fuery."

"And Amal and Mrs. Curtis?" Mustang asked.

"I'll be talking with him, too, once you three are taken care of, and with Teacher once she wakes up," Eden explained, standing. "Don't worry, as things stand, you'll definitely be in the information loop."

Mustang gave a small nod and said, "We'll see how things go, then. See you around, I suppose."

The blond gave him a wave and walked out, already dialing his PHS to reach Tseng, closing the door behind him as he went. The others in the hall gazed at him curiously, but he ignored them in favor of turning his attention to Tseng when he answered his phone, saying, "Okay, we're good to go with all three, and it's just the finer details of training we need to work out. You'll need to arrange someone for Fuery to work with, and I'm going to call Genesis to come deal with Mustang because he chose SOLDIER. I guess Freyra can show Hawkeye to you so you can set her up. Was there anything else those three needed from me?"

"As far as I can tell, no. Let Freyra and Cissnei know they can escort their respective charges to our office here for the moment. With Mustang, I'll leave that to you and Genesis," Tseng answered. "So that leaves Amal, yes?"

"Yeah, he's the last one here," Ed agreed, hearing a door open and looking up in mild surprise as a curious Hawkeye moved to stand in the open doorway beside Freyra.

"Mrs. Curtis is showing signs of waking. Once you're done with Amal, you should head down to check with the doctors on floor forty-three—a nurse there will direct you to her room," the Wutain informed the blond Turk.

"Will do," Eden agreed, then hung up and looked curiously at the two women.

"You said I'm supposed to show Hawkeye to Tseng," Freyra answered the blond teen's expression with amusement.

Hawkeye blinked and looked at the younger blond, who said, "Yeah, Mustang agreed—right now, his priority is to get his hands on information, and if it's established that you and he are good friends, it won't surprise anyone for you to meet him often. Welcome to the Turks."

The woman gave a small smile and nod before asking, "Will I know anyone else?"

"Major Miles joined—his Turk name is Kamil," Eden replied. "Have fun." He then turned to Cissnei and said, "Fuery's going to have to wait in the Turks' office while Tseng finds someone to show him the ropes, so you'll have to show him there."

"Sure," she agreed as Ed returned to Fuery's room and Freyra and Hawkeye headed down the hall. Cissnei opened the door for them so they could both step into the room.

"The verdict?" Fuery asked in mild surprise when he saw both Turks at the open door. He was still sitting at the table where Eden had left him.

"Mustang agreed to your idea, but you're going to have to wait in the Turks' office until Tseng can track down a teacher for you," Eden told him. "Cissnei's your escort."

"I am, and I'm glad you've got something in the works," Cissnei agreed with a smile.

"Okay—just one thing," Fuery asked, looking a little amused. When the other two nodded, the black haired man asked, "Is Cissnei one like you to have been hired so young? That is, does she qualify as a genius?"

Eden and Cissnei traded amused looks, then the girl looked back at the older man to say, "Age of adulthood here is fourteen." The admission made him blink, but she went on, "Turks usually join between eighteen and twenty-five—ones who joined at sixteen, even, are rare. In my case, I was raised to be a Turk from the age of six, so I qualified by age eleven, and had been helping out with missions on occasion between then and fourteen, when I was officially hired. You can't compare me to a 'genius', and I don't qualify under the same terms as everyone else in the department."

"Translation: she has a big sister complex when she's the youngest Turk in existence," Eden quipped, which produced a laugh from the girl beside him and an amused grin from Fuery. "Anyway, you two can head out. I have one more call to make before I talk with Amal."

Fuery rose and followed Cissnei out of the room and down the hall as the blond teen stepped from the room and stopped in the Hall to dial Genesis' number. After several rings, Eden began to wonder if it was going to be answered, but then the red haired man's familiar voice panted, "What can...I do for...you, Eden?"

With a raised brow, the blond asked, "What are you doing?"

"Training," Genesis answered dryly. "I think...I overdid...the magic...though." He was still panting as he said it, but then he drew several deep breaths before it sounded like he was drinking something. With one last, deep breath, the man said, "Better. Now, what did you need?"

"Mustang chose SOLDIER, so do you want to Mentor him? And, is there any way he can start as a Third?" Eden asked.

"Hmm..." the older man murmured thoughtfully, falling silent for a minute. Finally, he said, "You know, if I take him as my replacement in case something happens to me, he should be able to start at Third. Mentoring is a different thing from what I'm talking about—that's really just guidance for someone showing certain skills. I'm only willing to do this with him because I'm sure his skills are going to be a lot like yours. Neither Angeal nor Sephiroth have ever chosen one, so I'm not entirely sure of the ins and outs. Let me stop by Lazard's office on my way and I'll let you know."

"That's fine, take your time. I'll talk with Amal while I wait for you," Eden agreed.

"I'll talk with you later, then," the red haired man told him, then hung up.

Hanging up and pocketing his PHS, Eden faced Kunzel and asked as he motioned at the door behind the Second, "What did you think of his skills, by the way?"

"He's strong for someone un-enhanced," Kunzel replied. "I had to work to beat him, and that's pretty rare when a SOLDIER of any Class is up against a civilian. I think he'll be welcome regardless of what he chooses to do."

Giving a grin and nod, the teen answered, "That's my thought, too, though I'm pretty sure he's not going to choose Shinra."

"As long as he doesn't join Fuhito—" Kunzel began.

Eden cut him off with, "Yeah, _that's_ not happening. Ever." (2)

"Then he'll be fine," the SOLDIER Second finished in amusement.

Going to the door, Eden stepped inside and eyed the Ishbalan man who lay on his cot and stared at the ceiling. His hair was more gray than white, his eyes were an even darker shade of red than Kamil's, and the large, X-shaped scar on his forehead was still as prominent as ever.

When the man didn't respond to his presence at all, even when he 'noisily' closed the door, the blond raised a brow and asked, "So you think ignoring your visitors is a good thing—Scar?"

The man's eyes went to him in surprise, then some kind of realization as he stated, "You're the reason they were ready for us."

"Partly. Al told them a lot, too," the Turk agreed.

"You allowed your 'beloved brother' to be tortured for information?" Amal glared, sitting up sharply.

"No one was tortured, Amal," Eden replied dryly. "In fact, Al and Mei are at school with their new friends now. Whatever information Al divulged to Tseng and Genesis was his own will to do so."

"So why did you betray us—your own brother—in the first place? I know better than to think people around here besides you can interpret the arrays your brother was leaving around the Slums."

"Genesis is the one who figured it out—I haven't even _been here_ until the day Genesis brought in the others. Also, I'm not 'betraying' you, I'm saving your lives and giving you livelihoods now that you're stuck here permanently, just like me."

A long silence followed the words, so Eden took the time to move over to the table and sit, motioning for Amal to join him there. It took a few minutes for the man to take the seat across from the blond, but once he did, he asked, "We're stuck here when we never chose to come here in the first place?"

"That's actually Al's fault, and Truth took advantage in a very bad way," the teen told him. "He'd been ignoring the reality of the situation for a long time, right from the first moment I was told I could only restore my brother's life to Amestris if I gave up my own life there. This was always a one-way trip, so I built my own life here. Because of my skills, the Turks and SOLDIERs have chosen to take my word for your skills, which is opening up job opportunities to you."

Amal crossed his arms over his chest and asked, "So what's the whole, real situation here? I know very well they've only really been telling me things to... _lead_ me down a particular path, and with what I know about Shinra, I'd rather not be in direct service to them. Unlike General Armstrong, these people haven't earned either my trust or my acceptance."

"First, are there any civilian jobs, like being a shopkeeper, which you'd like to do?" the blond asked.

"No."

At that, Eden explained the situation yet again, feeling very tired at having to do so—and feeling very glad he'd only have to do it once more after this. Once he'd explained, he said, "I'd recommend Gaia's Refuge if you don't want Shinra, or if you're still in a combat mindset and don't want an established group, you could be an independent mercenary. Under those terms, anyone could 'hire' you, from Shinra to Gaia's Refuge to any other independent businessmen or terrorists, but it would also allow you the most freedom to say 'no' if you don't agree with the job or just don't feel like doing it. It would still allow you contact with everyone from Mei to Tseng to Mustang to Miles—who is being called Kamil now."

The last bit brought a faintly amused expression to the older man's eyes, but he sat back for a minute or two to think before finally asking, "What are the most common jobs mercenaries get here?"

"Depends on who's hiring you," the younger shrugged. "If it's from SOLDIER or the Turks, that's usually to do with killing monsters—almost anything else stays within our ranks. If it was one of the Department heads, it would probably end up as a bodyguard assignment. Gaia's Refuge would probably ask for help with rescues of innocent people on someone's hit list. Anything else, I can't tell you because I never did mercenary work—I was pretty much in research mode and right into the Turks. I only ended up taking out one guy with a bounty on his head because he attacked me while I was traveling. Oh, the bounty offices in larger cities would have criminal data for people on—well, on Shinra's hit list, many of which _really are_ criminals."

Silence fell again for a moment before Amal asked, "And after all the trouble they went to so they could capture us, your buddies will just let me go if I claim I want to be a mercenary?"

"The point to capturing you was to give you the chance to establish a life here, not to chain you to Shinra. Of course, I'm sure Shinra would love to apply chains to you, but that wasn't the purpose of our actions, and it was only allowed because the gains outweighed the damages. If you choose the route of the mercenary, your first jobs are going to be from the Turks and SOLDIER, and you'll have an established link to us so you can pass on important information to help us stop people like Fuhito, or we can pass on information to you, too. Whether you like it or not, Shinra is this world's Amestris, its world power—on second thought, Shinra is even more powerful since it now owns the _whole world_ —so you're going to have to deal with Shinra in some capacity. Better it be as an ally with friends on the inside than as an enemy."

A deep sigh came from the man before he nodded and said, "Fine, I'll take the mercenary option. At least it gives me the most independent choice."

Eden gave a smile and nod before saying, "In which case, you'll have to meet with Tseng and Lazard, because those are the two who will be hiring you first-off. That will give you quick access to supplies and funds. The rest—like getting jobs from outsiders—will be up to you."

"Obviously."

The Turk rose and grinned, "Then let's get out of here."

He headed for the door with Amal not far behind him, and when he stepped out, it was obvious he'd still have to wait on Genesis. He looked at Rude and Kunzel to say, "Could you two switch places so Rude can take Amal to Tseng first-off? He needs to start somewhere, and as far as what he needs to do for his chosen profession, Tseng will probably know the most."

"I don't mind. What profession, though?" Kunzel asked.

"Mercenary," Eden replied.

With a nod and grin, the man said, "Yeah, that's probably the better place to start, but I know there's one regular job Lazard would love to be able to turn over to someone reliable without having to put SOLDIERs on it. After all, the monsters in no-man's-land in the Slum Sectors never seem to end, and we have to take care of things in areas further away, where majorly strong monsters, like from the Northern Crater, are attacking."

"He'll head there to talk with Lazard about that after meeting with Tseng, for sure," Eden agreed, and Amal nodded his assent with a single nod.

"Come with me, then," Rude said to the slightly darker man, stepping away from Mustang's door. Amal turned to follow him down the hall as Kunzel took his place by the last occupied room.

"Genesis will hopefully be here soon," Eden said to the Second, who gave a grin and a nod. The Turk then stepped back into Mustang's room, where the man had begun doing push-ups between the table and bed. "Seriously, push-ups?" he asked in mild amusement after closing the door.

"I keep...myself...in shape...Full—Eden. You've...just never...seen me...actively...do so before," Mustang replied, continuing his push-ups. He didn't even look at the blond.

"How many are you going for?"

"One hundred. I'm at...seventy-two."

As Mustang kept up his push-ups, Eden shrugged and said, "Genesis should be here soon to discuss things with you. I'm going to stay for a bit because there's something I have to tell you about and Tseng won't have the time to help while I no longer have the freedom to. That will leave you and Genesis to do the task with a guide from Gaia's Refuge."

The black haired man gave a smirk as he commented, "You must not...think much...of SOLDIERs."

"I'm not talking about something combat-related, Bastard."

"Why would we...need help...from anyone, then?"

"Just wait for Genesis to get here," the Turk answered.

 **Notes:**

(1) From my own experiences, it isn't actually normal for people to verbally comment on someone's height even a fraction of the times they do in FMA:B/manga, so to me, all of that essentially looks like deliberate teasing (approaching cruelty for a few of the characters) for the sole purpose of getting a rise out of Ed. In FFVII, Emma was teased a bit about her height because she was the shortest Turk as an adult who probably wasn't going to grow any taller, but it still never approached what others did to Ed in Amestris. Him being away from it for as long as he has been has actually given him time to settle, and seeing how Emma reacted (or didn't react) to the teasing directed at her helped him move forward so this no longer necessarily triggers him.

On top of that, in this specific case, he was _expecting_ Mustang to do it, so had braced himself against that—as such, it didn't have the effect it should have. Part of why he braced himself was, of course, because he didn't want _more_ work, or harder work, than he already had to do, so holding back from a reaction would have been logical as well, and helped push him to just irritation at Mustang's general rudeness.

In response to people thinking his explosions about his height are part of his 'nature' or some sort of psychological problem: they actually aren't, or there would be _no_ exceptions to his reactions (Izumi and Selim), and his reaction wouldn't change as he matured or grew taller in FMA:B/manga (he had largely stopped reacting unless someone severely taunted him after he was swallowed by Gluttony). There may still be circumstances when he'll react, but it's not a use-all anymore—sorry to anyone who thinks he should _always_ be this way. People change over time, especially as they mature, and this is something which also legitimately happened to Ed in the original story line, regardless of whether 'some' readers like to see/acknowledge it (like readers who have told me Ed was too OoC because he wasn't throwing a fit every few minutes or something).

(2) 'Scar' was very specific in who he killed, so even though Ed knows nothing about 'Amal', he knows the man wouldn't just go on a rampant killing spree or try to annihilate all life on the planet. Ergo, he'd never join Fuhito.


	23. 20-Setup Finished

Setup Finished

It didn't take Mustang long to finish the push-ups, after which he sat down at the table to finish the drink he'd left by the food tray. As he did, Eden peered curiously at the skin around Mustang's eyes, causing the man to ask in confusion, "What?"

"There's little scars around your eyes. I've been meaning to ask this for awhile, but other things always took precedence—how did you even get your sight back after that alchemist...took it?" the blond asked.

"Oh, that," the black haired man sighed. "Hohenheim met with Marcoh shortly before he died at your mother's grave, and between the two, they figured out how to fix my eyes. Marcoh was the one who actually performed the transmutation, since Hohenheim had already gone off and died by then. The scarring was the result, though it's not nearly as bad as it could have been, and I don't have full color vision anymore—but just being able to see again is a relief, and the color I lost is blue, apparently. For example, I see purples as oddly-hued reds and greens as oddly-hued yellows. Blue either turns various shades of gray or vanishes entirely from my sight."

"Wow," Eden blinked in amazement. "I knew Doctor Marcoh was good, but not _that_ good, even with Hohenheim's help. He died, though—Hohenheim?"

"Basically, he helped out Marcoh with a few medical issues, made sure Al would be okay with Miss Rockbell and Mrs. Curtis, then went to Mrs. Elric's grave, sat down—and died right there, sitting up. Al held a small funeral for him, but otherwise...How do you feel knowing what happened to your father?" Mustang asked curiously.

"...That, I don't know. I can't answer right now, because it just feels—distant and surreal. And it's one thing Al never mentioned to me, so I don't know that _he_ really has any idea of how to feel, either."

"It's to be expected. You didn't know him well, after all," the older man nodded. "At least this way, you have a chance of setting that bad blood aside and moving on."

At that moment, the door opened to admit the red haired man they had been waiting for, and it was obvious his hair was freshly-washed.

"Whatever," the younger answered Mustang with an absent, half-snort.

"Hello, Eden! How goes the job sorting?" Genesis asked the blond with a grin, brow raised a bit at 'whatever' the last word had been about.

"Fine," the teen answered in amusement, welcoming the distraction. "Other than Teacher—Izumi—Mustang is the last now. Did you find out what you wanted to know?"

"I did," Genesis agreed, sitting in the free seat at the table, beside the teen. His gaze met Mustang's in amusement as he said, "I don't know if Eden told you anything, but the only way you can skip the Cadet training is if one of the First Classes takes you as an—I guess the best term is 'apprentice' and their replacement. Since your body type is the slender agility one and you're as much a Mage as I am if Eden is to be believed, I'm the best one to do that. A Mage is our term for someone who uses magic more easily than most, and the Materia are all based on the arrays the three of us here know. Now, after talking with Director Lazard, I also know your training is entirely up to me, your rank validated only by performance on missions—which I'll be choosing for you—and there are apparently some two-bedroom apartments on the SOLDIER floors for exactly this reason. That is, your automatic residence is with me. I have to make sure you're trained, outfitted, healthy, and—well, happy, though I don't think I can really do much about that last."

Mustang blinked, then blinked again and asked, "You're going to take someone you know nothing about as your replacement?" His gaze was sharp.

"I trust Eden's word when he says you're skilled and driven. If you're even half as good as he is at any or all of his skills, you'll _still_ be better than anyone else in the SOLDIER program to be my replacement, except maybe Kunzel. I'm putting a lot of faith in your skills, so don't disappoint me," Genesis answered evenly, meeting the other man's gaze without doubt in his eyes.

"Does your 'Director' know what you're doing?" the black haired man asked.

"He does, and my things are already being moved."

"...It's already done and agreed to?"

"You wanted SOLDIER. Now you have it."

"I feel like I've cheated the system something awful."

"Don't. I'm a slave-driver, and you're probably going to wish in short order that you'd gone for the 'traditional' route."

The words made Mustang smirk as he said, "Try me. I'm sure I can take anything you dish out, drama queen."

Genesis gave a snort and asked, "So, do we start right into training, or would you like to get settled today? So you know, the bedroom assigned to you will have everything you need in it, so it would just be individualization from the default look of things."

"I'm going to need to get outfitted, and it might be a good idea for me to start getting used to the use of a sword in more definitive terms as soon as possible. Otherwise, I'd rather take time today to adapt to my new surroundings."

"Fair enough," the red haired man agreed, then looked at Eden. "Need something?"

"Yeah, one of the things you two will have to do is go and find someone in the Slums on her request," the Turk answered in amusement.

"...Someone in the Slums?" Genesis asked in mild confusion.

"She asked that she be allowed to meet with anyone from my home who chooses SOLDIER, definitely before their Mako infusions."

"Why does it matter?"

"She was born with the natural ability to hear the Lifestream. She's had no exposure to Mako, either. Well, no more than people in Midgar get because of the Reactors," Eden informed the men, producing mildly surprised expressions from both.

"All right, so where will we find her?" the red haired man asked. "And why do you even know about her with how little exploration you have time to do lately?"

"She's basically Tseng's younger adopted sister. Felicia and Shears are both watching over her so will be able to direct you to her. Tseng never said anything against it when I offered you as one of her protectors in Shinra, so the two of you would have had to meet eventually, anyway," the blond explained. "I'd have shown you the way to her place, but with me on disciplinary duty for the next who knows how long when I'm not guarding Rufus, I can't. She needs to meet with Mustang, though, because him getting Mako infusions is basically going to put him in the same category as her, so she'll be able to help him deal with hearing the Lifestream all the time."

Genesis' expression became thoughtful as Mustang frowned and asked, "Could we begin with exactly what 'category' she's _in_?"

"Something better off not being discussed here, though I'm sure she'll fill you in when you go see her," the Turk replied. "Though, she only asked for this because she feels secure enough with enough of us that she's sure no one will try to return her to Hojo's sorry excuse for 'care'."

With a nod, the red haired man said, "I'd definitely protect her from Hojo, and from Shinra if they intended on handing her over to him. I'd like to meet her, so we'll find time to take a trip. Now that it's a lot easier for me to get in touch with Felicia and Shears, I think we'll be fine if you give us a few basics."

"Sector Five Slums," Eden replied. "They'll have to take over from there. If not, look for fields of flowers near the outer edge of Sector Five."

"Got it. Anything else will wait until we've gotten away from here, other than training things," Genesis said, rising. "Unless you have more questions in need of immediate answers?"

"...I believe I'm fine for now," Mustang relented, also rising.

As he rose, so did Eden, and Genesis had already moved over to the door and opened it. Genesis gave Eden a wave as he led the way away, calling for both Kunzel and Mustang to follow him. Kunzel also gave a wave as he followed the two away, and Eden was left alone in the hall to check the time. It was nearly eleven in the morning already. Since he only had about an hour to finish with Teacher, Ed headed to floor forty-three.

On the way, he sent a text message to Genesis in 'array code' which read something like, _Sentinels = Cetra/Ancients (us), purpose to protect Healers = Cetra who hear Lifestream (her)_.

The other man's reply was a simple message in Standard: _received and interpreted_.

By then, he was approaching the front desk on floor forty-three, so he asked for Izumi's room number. Once he had it, he headed to the room to see Sora standing guard outside the door. The Wutain woman gave him a small smile and a nod as he approached, so he asked, "How's she doing? Has she managed to verbally flay you yet?"

"She has woken and has been decidedly quiet so far," Sora answered, good eye showing amusement. "I would think it was odd if I hadn't realized the state of her body. At this point, she's still recovering, though who knows how changes in her environment will affect her."

With a nod, the Turk drew in a deep breath and quietly pushed open the door to look into the room. Izumi was wearing a hospital gown rather than her own clothes, but was 'sitting up' in bed, the upper part of the hospital bed raised for support, while she stared out the window. Other than slightly green-fogged cloudy sky, there was nothing to see outside, so her attention almost immediately turned to the door—and to him. At first, her eyes widened, then narrowed until she was glaring at him, and finally, she started to push herself up, even as Ed held his hands up in a warding motion.

However, before the woman could get far, her arms gave out under her weight and she dropped back onto the bed. (1) "What the Hell do you think you're doing in that uniform, runt? What will it take for you to learn not to join any kind of military force? When will you realize how screwed up these systems are? After what happened in Central, you should have thought twice about putting on another uniform!" she scolded him, tone vicious.

"Teacher, did you ever think there is actually a valid purpose for this 'military force' on this world?" Eden asked her quietly, sitting in the chair beside the bed. He was very thankful she was still so exhausted, though—her verbal flayings were bad enough.

"Stop calling me that! I already told you a long time ago that you're not my student anymore," she glared at him. "And I have yet to see a 'valid purpose' for any kind of military force."

With a nod, the teen answered, "This world is loaded with monsters which frequently attack humans. Most of what Shinra's military force deals with are those monster attacks."

"Which has little to nothing to do with those black suits like the one you're wearing."

"These 'black suits' also get prime place in information handling and control."

"Which is exactly what the world _doesn't_ need!"

"If we had an ideal world, I would agree with you, Teacher, but we don't, and more than one of the people we have to deal with are Hell-bent on annihilating the human race. If everyone thought like you, this world wouldn't have an ice cube's chance in Hell of surviving because no one would be able to know or do anything against the threats we're facing."

"And assassination somehow helps matters outside covering up Shinra's own wrongdoing?"

"It does when mass murder risks triggering the end of the world and assassination means only a few specific people will need to die, rather than hoards of them."

A long silence followed the words as Izumi's brow furrowed in confusion. Finally, she asked in a softer tone, "What do you mean?" That time, Eden cast his new 'Deafen' spell on the door and window before explaining everything he needed to.

During the explanation, the woman had leaned back against the bed tiredly, more from the realization of what kind of world they had landed on rather than from exhaustion. Her eyes were closed and her brow was furrowed again—it was clear she was running the data around in her mind, trying to make sense of it when more than half of it was far outside the scope of the world she'd previously lived on. Yet, she knew what kind of person Edward was, and he wouldn't believe in any 'higher force' unless it actually existed. For all 'the Planet's' system was completely insane, there was also a kind of logic to it which was somehow feasible.

"So, the first thing we need to do is make sure all of you have some kind of livelihood, and you're the last one left I need to arrange that for," Eden finished. "Once you're in a stable place, we need to figure out the rest of what's going on. You're good at surprising me, so when I talked to my boss, I told him as much, but I also commented that you're the type who likes to pretend to be a housewife. It's really a shame Sig wasn't brought along, but Tseng said if you're interested, he's got a couple orphans he'd like you to take over the care of. They're yours if you agree—he doesn't actually care too much what they choose to do after getting training with you."

"...Let's start with who Tseng is," the woman replied.

"The Director of the Turks—my boss. He's originally from Wutai, which was the place Shinra was at war with until a few days ago."

"And he somehow doesn't care what the kids he's sending to me for training end up doing? I'd have thought they were to be trained to be Turks."

"He said they could also join Gaia's Refuge or the resort towns' defenders and he'll be happy. Or, they could join the Turks or SOLDIER. The point is, they won't be weak or foolish if you train them, and we need to start making the transition to something other than the tyrannical control of the current President Shinra."

"What about how everyone else is doing? Al, Mei, Winry, the Briggs men, and so on?" At the question, Eden gave her a wry smile and explained their jobs, causing the woman to sigh and ask, "So what's the catch to taking on the kids Tseng had in mind?"

"It's not really 'a catch', but Tseng is hoping for something, I think—you'd have to discuss it more with him. He didn't go into a lot of detail, only really told me he hoped you would at least work _with_ them, even if you wouldn't work _for_ them," the blond offered. "I mean, you need a source of income, too, and there's no husband for you to hide behind so you can keep pretending to be a housewife, so your next best bet is to give the impression of being a single mother." (2)

"How will that work if those kids are only coming to me for training before finding jobs?"

"He said he wanted you to actually adopt them, not just give them some training."

"...Would they happen to be some of the children Shinra has supposedly rescued from slavers or abusers?"

"I don't know. He said they're orphans and they have a drive and desire to learn, to better themselves, but we never discussed how they ended up in Shinra's care."

After a long silence, Izumi asked, "Is it all right for me to talk with Al, or am I just supposed to run on faith that he's safe? What about Winry and Mei?"

"Winry's working, but she'll probably take a break to come see you if I ask. I might have to go through Reeve, though, because she likes to ignore everything else when she's in full work mode. Al and Mei should have time to visit during the lunch hour, or they may have time now, depending on what classes they're in. Give me a few minutes to get in touch with them."

At the woman's nod, Ed pulled out his PHS to find Al's information first, then sent him a text message asking: _Got a minute?_

The reply from Al came about a minute later, after he'd sent the same text message to Mei: _I'm waiting for my turn on the sparring mat. What do you need?_ (3)

 _Teacher's awake and wants to see you. When do you think you'll be able to get to the Hospital Wing?_

As he sent the message to Al, Mei answered: _We're working on a group project right now. Will this take long?_

His lips quirked faintly as he sent a reply to Mei: _I just wanted to find out if/when you'd be able to come to the Hospital Wing to visit Izumi._

In the meantime, Al had answered him with: _At lunch. I'll grab something from the cafeteria and head up. Where am I going?_

Mei's reply came right after: _The soonest is lunch. Where will I have to go?_

Eden replied to both of them with the words ' _I'll let her know_ ' and the floor and room number, then looked up at Izumi to say, "Okay, Al and Mei will be here at their lunch break, so now I just have to try Winry."

"How—when—?" the older woman asked in pure confusion.

"It's a method of communication I guess is similar to a telegraph, but easier and faster to transmit, called a text message. It's a normal function of a PHS, which is just a hand-held phone—you've probably seen people using them since Fuery had," Eden answered, finding Winry's number for the PHS Reeve had given her. It dialed and rang...and rang...and rang...Finally, after several rings, he hung up with a sigh and muttered, "I figured..."

He then tried Reeve's number, and it was answered after a couple rings as the man asked, "What can I do for you, Eden?"

"I tried calling Winry to tell her Izumi woke up and wants to talk with her, but she's in work mode right now and didn't answer. Can you pass on the message for me?" the blond asked in amusement.

Reeve's voice was also amused as he answered, "I can. Give me a minute." With Ed's agreement, the older man put the call on hold for a minute before picking it back up and saying, "She's willing to take a short break for that, but wants to know where she's supposed to go to meet the woman." The sixteen-year-old gave him the same reply he'd given Al and Mei, prompting the man to repeat it back to him for verification, then Reeve said, "Okay, I'll pass that on to her. If that's all, I have a schematic I need to get done before one so it can go to the appropriate department."

"Got it. Thanks for your help, Reeve," the blond said, then hung up and met Izumi's gaze to say, "Okay, so I should probably also tell you my Turk name is Eden. Anyway, Winry will probably be here shortly. Anything else you'd like while I'm here?"

"You won't be here later?" the black haired woman asked with a raised brow.

"I have many, many hours of disciplinary duty, and I'm already being given leniency on that to meet with you," Eden replied dryly, and the woman's brow rose.

"Someone is making you own up to your actions, runt?" she asked, gaze faintly bemused.

"Yeah, Tseng sure is," the teen agreed with a sigh. "Then again, with the age of adulthood being fourteen here, I count as an adult and am fully responsible for my own actions. That's why he had to do something when I copped the kind of attitude with him which I'd usually have with Mustang."

"Fine, if your time is limited, call your boss so he can explain his angle to me in greater detail and maybe even set me up to meet the kids in question before I agree or disagree," Izumi said with a sigh. When the blond's brow rose in mild surprise, she scowled and said, "It seems I don't have much choice in at least hearing him out. If he happens to impress me, I might even be willing to work 'with' him, but I'm not holding my breath for the head of Shinra's Secret Service."

Eden gave her an amused look and said, "I can guarantee he'll surprise you, but whether he'll 'impress' you or not—we'll see. I'll call him, then." Turning back to his PHS, he saw two text messages which were 'thank yous' from Al and Mei, so selected Tseng's number to make the call.

When the Wutain answered the phone, he sounded a little tired as he asked, "I hope you're not about to add to my workload, Eden."

"Um, I'm not sure if you'd take it as 'adding' to it or just 'working towards resolution of' something," Eden answered, struggling to hold back a laugh.

"This is about Mrs. Curtis, then?" the man asked.

"It is. I've talked with her and she's got Winry, Al, and Mei on the way to meet her, but she's asked to talk with you more about 'what your angle is', as she put it. I can't tell her everything you were working on, so it's probably best if you actually take the time to go through it with her while she can't pound your head in."

Both Tseng and Izumi snorted at the words, then the Wutain man said, "I should be able to find the time for that by twelve thirty. If that will resolve the situation with your—visitors, that will be one less task for me to deal with, so yes, I'll count it as the latter. In the meantime, Reno will meet you at the cafeteria so you can eat before going back to work. He'll have the marker you wanted, and the shelves you asked for are in the rooms, though some shelves you may have to move because the people dropping them off didn't always have clear places to put them."

"Got it," Eden sighed, then hung up his PHS. Gaze moving to Izumi, he said, "Tseng said he'd be here sometime between now and twelve thirty, but I'm guessing it'll be closer to twelve thirty. And my time is up, so I'll let your guard know you're expecting company on my way out."

"Fine. Get going," the woman replied, so Eden rose and left, pausing to update Sora on the way. As he was leaving, he saw the woman slip into Izumi's room, and assumed it was to talk with her.

 **Notes:**

(1) Okay, I know a lot of people were expecting this to be A LOT more dramatic. Here's my reasoning for why Izumi actually can't get up yet. Even though Hohenheim fixed the—order of her internal organs to make the flow between them smoother, he didn't give back what she'd lost. As such, she still has the issue of battle or other extensive activity causing her health issues, and she spent around 45 MINUTES fighting a SOLDIER First while NOT conserving her strength at all. She was mainly fighting in fear by that point, and held nothing back, putting her into a similar state to what she had been the same day she met Ed and Al while using alchemy to save Resembool—she was bed-ridden for over a day and spitting/coughing up blood. Doctors don't normally leave blood sitting around on their patients, though. Since she only woke maybe half an hour before, she's not actually in any shape to get up yet.

(2) Izumi is definitely not the type to just take some random guy as a 'husband' just so she has a cover—she only got to know Sig enough to marry him because he proved his strength, and his gentleness, to her first, and all the men on Gaia are strangers to her at best. In this case, having her go with taking care of two young kids was the better and more feasible option. For anyone thinking Barret would be a possible partner for her 'because Myrna is dead or dying'—this is 3 years too soon for Myrna to be sick, and Barret is still wholly devoted to her, so even if Barret's strength would be attractive to Izumi, Barret wouldn't be interested.

(3) Since it wasn't explicitly stated, assume Freyra taught Al and Mei to use their PHS's while they were at the inn near the Sector 7 Station, having something to eat during the time they had to wait for the train to arrive.


	24. 21-Seeds

**A/N:** This is the first chapter where I added in a character development scene. Most were already developed in my mind, but I hadn't written them out, so now I'm doing so. I won't be informing anyone of scenes being added or modified after this point.

Seeds

Al's class had been released early, so he had been able to sit and eat in the cafeteria with Elena before heading to floor forty-three to see Izumi. He and Mei had gotten to the Hospital Wing around the same time, so both headed to the room number Eden had given them, arriving there to see Winry and a Wutain woman in combat gear and with an eye patch over one eye sitting with Izumi. The Wutain woman's uniform was similar to Zack, Angeal, Genesis, and Sephiroth's, so they knew she was at least a SOLDIER First.

Winry was just saying, "But I've never seen technology this developed or fascinating, so getting me away from it is—especially hard."

"Much like Reeve, and he has far more experience with it than you do, Miss Rockbell," the Wutain woman replied in amusement as Izumi chuckled. The First's gaze then turned to Al and Mei at the door as she invited, "Come in, then, Alphonse, Mei. We've been expecting you. I'm Commander Sora Kagawa."

"Hi, guys!" Winry grinned as she turned in her seat to face them.

"Long time no see, Win," Al grinned at her, then looked at Izumi. "You're okay, Teacher?"

"How many times do I have to tell you to stop calling me that?" Izumi answered him with an annoyed glare. "You and Ed both!" She paused before her gaze softened and she said, "Well, come in here and let me see this 'school uniform' of yours." Al and Mei both approached her as she examined the pair intently, then the woman asked, "So all the students at the Academy wear that same uniform with only the gender split in the pants and skirt?"

"Yeah, as far as we can tell," Al agreed. "But this whole place is just really, really strange, and Shalua—she's one of the girls I have a few classes with—insisted she had to get us both these really strange devices you play a game on that's weird as—well, let's just say it would be easier to show you than to tell you, and we don't have time for that now. I guess she's going to take us to find them once we've moved into our new homes, sort of as 'welcome' gifts? But still, that game's just...insane..."

"You mean Battle Pets?" Winry asked curiously.

"Yeah! Why do _you_ know it when you don't even go to the Academy?" Mei asked in confusion. "I mean, almost everyone there plays it, but they're all kids, still, and you're working with adults."

"Apparently, there aren't all that many games besides Battle Pets unless you go to casinos and game centers in Costa del Sol, so even a lot of adults play it to unwind. About half my co-workers do, and even Reeve has a game, even though Cait Sith mainly plays it," Winry replied in amusement.

The two of them gaped at her in shock before Mei asked, "So...that robotic cat you were pulling apart plays those—vi-de-o games?"

"Yup," the blond girl agreed. She then looked at Izumi again and said, "So, speaking of my work, I have a lot of it to get back to, if you're satisfied with my well-being and position here, Mrs. Curtis?"

"Call me Izumi, Winry," the woman told her dryly. "Go ahead, then."

Winry was gone a minute later, only having paused long enough to give Al a hug as she whispered to him, "Take care of yourself and get used to everything that's changed," on her way out. Al had to give a wry smile at 'Winry in work mode.'

"So, neither of you has been harmed?" Izumi asked of the pair.

"I'm fine. I've met some really strange people over the last few days with Ed, though," Al commented. "He's so different from how he used to be."

"To some degree," the older woman agreed, motioning at the vacated chair. It was Mei who sat in it, while Al sat on the edge of the bed by the woman's hip. "But Al, every one of those changes has a logical reason behind it, and he was already maturing in Amestris. This just forced it faster."

The younger boy glared and replied, "Yeah, him committing a mass murder of torture subjects is _such_ a _natural_ change in him." It didn't matter how much he thought about it, that was what his brother's actions sounded like to him.

"He also had no other option if he expected to save those people," Sora said, reminding the younger kids of her presence. Izumi, who had been staring at Al in shocked horror, turned her gaze to Sora, the expression becoming confused—but Al turned his head to glare at her.

"Like you would know anything about it, based on what I've heard of SOLDIERs," the blond boy scowled at the Wutain woman. "You'd kill your own countrymen if you were ordered to do so!"

Mei was staring at all three of them with a deeply pained expression, one which became dawning realization as Sora leaned back in her seat, crossed her arms, and said, "Even if that's superficially true, I happen to be one of the people he saved in Deepground, and part of my _job_ was to help break those people, to make them obedient. I had more leeway with Shelke, and while she had little backbone, she was mentally stronger than most of those taken there. I'm telling you Eden did the right thing as someone who _suffered through it_ , and as someone who either watched it happen or helped put people into the states he found them in.

"I'm not proud of what I did, but I was also carefully biding my time while waiting for an opportunity to escape, and he was the one who provided me—all of us—with that opportunity. The harsh reality of the world is that sometimes death is truly the only freedom people have, and he gave it to people who no longer had any other option. By _my_ standards, the burden he took on to grant those people mercy and death is worthy of both thanks and praise. What you're doing cheapens his sacrifice—and it cheapens _our lives, our survival_. Not even _Shelke_ would appreciate that." Sora met his gaze evenly through the speech, and the words actually caused the boy's jaw to fall open.

"You...agree with that? Even if it had been you he'd had to kill?" the blond asked quietly, gaze pained. Were all the people on this world _insane_?

"Say rather that, had he found me in the same sort of state he found most of them in, I'd have _expected_ him to put me out of my misery, and would have loathed his very existence if he didn't do so," Sora replied frankly. "Assuming I had enough mental capacity to feel loathing, which the majority of those people no longer could. Death isn't something to be feared, because it's just an ending to the pains and suffering of this world, this life. I don't necessarily 'want' to die, but that doesn't mean I need to loathe or fear something which is merely a natural process of life."

Al didn't reply immediately, and a voice cut into the silence with, "If that's now sufficiently resolved, I have to ask all of you to leave so I can speak with Mrs. Curtis." Everyone looked up to see the Wutain Turk there, who was gazing at Al curiously.

The blond looked back at Sora and asked tentatively, "Honor him? For that?"

"It's hard to look someone in the eye, knowing the only option is to end their life when not on a battlefield, and to kill them," the Wutain woman told him. "His strength, to be able to do that, and the suffering it in turn caused him—yes, his being able to do it and come out of it sane, without becoming a cold-blooded killer, is more than worthy of praise, and of thanks. Don't cheapen it. For any of us." She then got up and left the room, even as Al wrapped his arms around himself and shivered. He had never expected such a response from someone who had been in Deepground.

Mei touched his arm and said, "We need to go. Let's find somewhere quiet to talk for awhile before classes start again." He slowly nodded and let her pull him up, and she added to Izumi, "Sorry the meeting today got cut so short, Izumi. Hopefully the next one will be longer." The younger girl then tugged a very disturbed, absent-minded Al from the room.

As soon as they were gone, the Wutain man stepped into the room, closed the door, and faced Izumi to say, "That was one of the harsher incidences all of us have participated in, but it ultimately meant we could save more of our civilians as well as the members of Deepground who were still sane. The rest—honestly weren't, and their lack of sanity and self-preservation is really the only reason we won the battle."

She blinked at him and said quietly, "I see." She then paused and eyed him in some puzzlement before she asked, "Are you Tseng, by any chance?"

"Yes, and yes, I'm aware I'm oddly young for the position, but Veld—my predecessor—was forced to resign and I had been his second for over a year. I was the only one he could leave in charge when he left, but I had to take the position long before I was expecting to have to," Tseng answered, taking the seat Mei had vacated. "I sent Eden into the experimental facility to find Commander Rhapsodos, who had recently been kidnapped, but by default, that meant he'd have to take care of the experimental subjects. I was relying on his strange brand of luck to get him through there, and thankfully, it worked. Now, to get on with the reason for this meeting, you wanted to know what my 'angle' was, yes?"

"Yes, I do," she agreed, gaze turning sharp in a warning glare.

He gave a nod. "The basic idea is that, because you fit the profile of someone originating from Gongaga—that's a small town on the central continent—and of a half-Wutain from northern Wutai, your hometown would be listed as the former location. The two children I wanted you to adopt are both also half-Wutain with the northern looks, the girl rescued from the slave market and the boy from abusive, drug-addicted parents who were selling him to feed their habits." Izumi's eyes widened at the data, but she motioned him to go on.

"So, the surname 'Curtis' and the temperament you've displayed are both traits of Gongagans, the latter also of northern Wutains, and most Gongagans have some ancestral Wutain blood, which is why I think this will work as well as it does. However, there's a large slave trade involving Wutains, and it wouldn't be farfetched to say your children were kidnapped while you were in Gongaga and you and your husband left to track the slavers to recover your children, which eventually led you here. It would have been here, or on the outskirts, where you met up with the rest of your group, and all of you were obviously helping one another. Your husband died in the process of trying to rescue your kids, only for you to find out we had beaten you to your kids, leading you to think they were going from the hands of one slaver master to another."

"We're also making the assumption that you traveled a great deal and had met most of the group, including training Eden and Alphonse, long before your children were kidnapped from Gongaga. There are notably two members of our combat units who would be 'relatives' of yours, as they also came from Gongaga. In the meantime, we're now helping you establish yourself here because you don't want to go back to the same place your kids were kidnapped from, and you had done us a service by going after the slavers. Does that make sense so far?"

"It does," Izumi agreed. "But what's the point of what you're doing? And you still haven't told me what you want in exchange."

He gave a nod and replied, "First, let me be clear on something, Mrs. Curtis. That background is largely for your own cover and safety. It's yours whether you agree to help us or not, and I'm not going to force you to do so." She stared at him in shock, making him give her a faintly amused smile. "Now, that isn't to say I wouldn't like your help, because your 'background' puts you in an ideal position to do certain things, such as keeping an eye on things which we normally can't and reporting back to me with anything which may threaten the general public. This would include stopping human traffickers and others of their ilk."

He paused, then said, "After speaking with Eden, I also thought this was the best way to give you, and both of the children we rescued, stability and far more safety than any of you previously had here in Midgar. _If_ something happens to come up, you'd get in touch with me through your 'relatives' who work with me, but otherwise, you would largely only be responsible for raising the two children, teaching them, and so on. We can work out what kind of shop or other 'front' you may like if you agree, and other than in direst emergency, you and the children would largely be left to your own devices, other than having us look out for you if you need us to. Either or both will also have free acceptance to Shinra Academy at any time they would like to attend."

She was quiet for a few long moments as she thought about what he was saying, then asked, "You really don't mean to force me to work for you—I'd still get the kids, home, and shop, even if I refused?"

"That's right," the younger man agreed evenly.

That was the first time in her life she'd been told by a power player there were no strings attached, and it puzzled her. It also intrigued her, made her wonder how far he would go to possibly gain her support. After a few minutes of thought, she said, "Bring the kids here so I can meet them. I won't rush in to anything—I want more time to think about it, and a lot more details on the background and situation, first. There are some—concerns I have about your system of governance, and I need to work out ways to resolve those, too."

"That's fine. I can return tomorrow with the children and more details on the exact situation. In the meantime, I can detail your background for you if you're up to it now?" the Wutain Turk asked.

"Fine. Start detailing," Izumi agreed. The younger man complied.

SH

Outside the room, Mei pulled Al with her to the elevator and selected floor twenty-one, where she'd accidentally discovered what was essentially an indoor greenhouse park. Half of the floor was devoted to said park space, though average citizens could only access about half of it because the other half was attached to the biology science labs also housed on that floor. Still, for the amount of space the park of sorts took up, it was well-designed for enjoyment and relaxation. It was also one of the most private and unobserved places in the building, as it was rarely visited besides by the biology lab staff, and even that was rare.

Mei led Al to a bench and pushed him down onto it, then sat beside him as she said bluntly, "It hurts, but it doesn't make it wrong. I'd be a lot more worried if that woman SOLDIER hadn't said she agreed with it and would have wanted him to end her life if she'd been so broken."

After a long silence, the blond asked quietly, "What good is either of us if we can't help them recover, give them their lives back? What was the point of learning alchemy—what was the point of trying to find my brother again when I don't really have any place with him anymore?" (1)

Mei was very annoyed by the words—her strong and gentle 'knight in shining armor' wasn't supposed to act like a weakling and a coward or hide from reality like that!

The girl hopped to her feet to stand in front of him, saying, "What you did took me away from my home, my family, even from Xiao Mei, who had been holding onto my arm." He looked up at her slowly, and when his pained eyes met hers warily, she went on, "I never had a choice. Would I want to go back? Yes. But I can't, and it wasn't really an accident. You aren't moving forward, you aren't following the flow of the veins of the dragon, you're just—refusing to move out of the space you're in. Get up. We'll spar now. And if you just _let_ me beat you up without even _trying_ to fight back, to defend your own actions, I'll never forgive you."

"Huh? _Now_?" he gaped at her in shock. He really wasn't in any shape to get into a fight, especially not with someone as skilled as Mei.

"Now," she insisted, gripping one of his wrists and pulling him to his feet. Not far from where they were sitting was a large, circular space on the stone path, and there was nothing in that space—other similar spaces in the garden had benches, statues, or fountains—so it was ideal for sparring. She led him to the middle of it, released his wrist, and turned back to face him.

For a moment, she met his gaze, then gave a formal bow (hands at her sides as she bowed from the waist)—and attacked with a kick which was aimed at the older teen's midsection. He half-way blocked on instinct, so her kick connected with his arms rather than his belly, but he was still thrown back and landed flat on his back.

With a glare, Mei asked irritably, "Do you _want_ me to break your bones, Alphonse?"

"...Does it matter that much if you do?" he asked tiredly, not really trying to get up.

His response made her even _more_ annoyed, so she attacked him again—and that time, her kick connected with his ribs hard enough to make him yelp and roll onto his side as he curled around them in pain. Mei knew he wasn't supposed to be behaving the way he was just because things hadn't gone his way, and he needed to realize things weren't really as bad as he was making them out to be—they were just _different_. His justification for ruining everyone's lives had been to find his brother, and of all of them, Al was the only one who had actually gotten what he wanted, so he of all of them had no right to wallow in self-pity. Right then, she was counting on his survival instinct to revitalize him and make him fight back. Her 'knight in shining armor' wasn't beyond help yet.

When she moved to jump on him with a downward kick, he apparently realized what she was doing and rolled out of the way, forcing himself up to face her in wide-eyed shock. Seeing his motion, she pressed her advantage and kept attacking, using mixes of kicks and punches and her sheer mobility to evade any of the older boy's defensive—and occasionally offensive—moves. He was starting to fight back, breaking his defensive stance more and more the more times she landed painful blows on him. As such, she was going to push that advantage until he _fought back_ properly.

Finally, as she aimed a kick at his neck, Alphonse snarled and swung his arm out in a move which sent her flying to land on her feet several feet away from him, then he charged at her, initiating the attack for the first time. Her incessant attack became the match she had been pushing him to the whole time, and they fought for over fifteen minutes after that before he collapsed to the ground, breathing hard as an equally winded Mei stood over him. After a minute, she released a burst of air, then did a few cool-down stretches before dropping to the ground beside him, laying with her head near his.

"I guess I really deserve your hatred..." Alphonse said softly from where he lay.

"Why should I hate you?" she asked in annoyance. It seemed the older teen had a habit of making a big deal out of _everything_. In a bad way. At least Yufi just got on with life with no less energy than she ever had.

"For taking your entire life away from you," he sighed.

"I'm not dead yet, Alphonse," she retorted.

"...What?" the blond asked in pure confusion. "But—your family, your—"

"They're gone," she cut him off. "People die all the time. We can't have them back. But even if you're the reason I can't see any of them anymore, why should I be angry or hate you? That just makes _my_ life miserable and keeps me from moving forward and being happy. I miss them. I've missed them since I left Xing. And I really, really miss Xiao Mei." At that, the younger girl paused to sigh. "But Alphonse— _they_ don't decide if I'll be happy, _I_ decide if I'll be happy, and _I'm still alive_ , so it's not 'my life' you took away, it's everything I was _familiar_ with."

There was a long silence before the blond fifteen-year-old asked, "Isn't that the same thing?"

"No, it isn't."

"...How is it different?"

"Because the world changes. Everything always changes. Old rice stalks become fertilizer, and new rice is planted and grows strong. Alphonse, all you did was make the old rice into fertilizer. I could choose to be the rice seed that never grows, like you're doing right now, but I don't want that, I want to be the new rice that grows strong. (2) I can mourn what I've lost, but I still have a life to move forward into, and I want to be happy, see what this new life will bring. Don't you? Aren't you at least a little curious about what your old past and new future will turn you into?"

For a long time after Mei had spoken, Alphonse was quiet as he thought about the words, but then he blinked and asked, "But what if I become someone so cold I could just kill people like Ed's started doing?"

"Isn't that _your_ choice?" Mei asked in reply. "Anyway, I haven't seen or heard anything from him that actually makes him 'cold'. It's the opposite. You're still seeing an ideal world that doesn't exist and never has. Which is actually really amazing after you spent so much time in that suit of armor. When you sent us here, you just basically made sure _you'd_ have to grow up, too."

After a startled silence, Alphonse chuckled and said, "I guess you've got a point, Mei. But speaking of a new life, even though _I_ have a spare block after lunch because I was just in a combat class before it—didn't you have an academic class, so are expected in one you're missing right now?"

With a sigh at the realization that she'd only marginally gotten through to him, she replied, "This was more important."

He was silent again for a moment before he sighed softly and said with real feeling, "Thanks, Mei." He then sat up and groaned as he rubbed his ribs where the worst blow had hit. "That smarts. I'm starting to be really thankful for the Materia B—Eden got for us now. Let's see..."

The blond closed his eyes for a moment before small, sparkling green lights swirled around him and he both felt and looked better, even as Mei felt an energy flowing through her to revitalize her as well. At seeing the same green lights around herself as she had around him, she realized he had healed her, too—he really was a group-oriented person. She pushed herself up as he stood, then he actively looked around.

"Where are we?" he asked in confusion as Mei led the way towards the exit to the main hall and the elevator.

"It's an open section on the biology lab floor, twenty-one," Mei replied.

"Oh. Then, if it's okay with you, I'll head to the library from here," he said as he saw the elevator.

"Sure," she agreed. "Just promise me you won't self-pity yourself almost to death again."

He looked amused as he said, "I won't go that far again. I promise."

"Good." She let him get on the first elevator to arrive, then pulled out her PHS while she waited for the second one, choosing Tseng's number and letting it dial.

"Mei, shouldn't you be in a class?" Tseng asked in a tired-sounding voice. (3)

"Yes, but Alphonse needed to get his head on straight again, and I only just got him back to at least—mostly normal. I'll still do the homework for the class I missed, but can you excuse me from it so I don't get in trouble?" she asked.

The Wutain man paused, then said, "I think I can as long as you're still going to do the work. Stop by the office on your way to class—you have about twenty minutes left to get the note I'll have there and turn it in to your teacher so you can collect the work you missed."

"Thanks! I was just heading there now," she answered as she got on the elevator and pushed the button for the fourth floor. "Is there anything else I should do?"

"Nothing you don't already know," he answered. "Don't make a habit of this, though."

"I won't," she agreed.

"I hope not. I'll see you this afternoon for the trip to the tailor, then."

Since he hung up then, Mei hung up her own PHS and put it away, giving a wry smile as she realized she had forgotten about them going to see the tailor after her last class that day, which was a combat class and left her a spare block after it, a spare block the man was using to take her on that little excursion. She had to wonder if the tailor would recognize her royal blood and dress her in royal robes or if she or he would... (4)

 **Notes:**

(1) If anyone's wondering—yes, Al is actually prone to depression. It's not surprising that's one of his problems after having been a soul stuck in a suit of armor for four years.

(2) Mei is Xingese, which is Chinese to us, and both China and Japan make philosophical quotes on rice. Or use rice to make philosophical quotes. The trend is more prominent in Japan, but it's still notably present in China, so I thought this view of the situation would be logical for her. I think there even is a similar quote in China or Japan...Whatever, it's close enough, LOL! I can excuse it with the fact that Xing ISN'T China, so some of their quotes and sayings would be different, too.

(3) Yes, this means Mei and Tseng have this discussion while Izumi is listening to Tseng's side of it.

(4) I figured I would end this scene with Mei on something showing her creativity somewhat. If only I had real visuals for what she's picturing in her head right now...The first image she was starting with here would be...Think of the same kinds of traditional Chinese feudal nobility robes and a bowing, kowtowing tailor in awe of her. Then, of course, she'd start imagining other things that could happen. Of course, none of what she's imagining is actually going to happen, because her daydreams aren't even close to reality...


	25. 22-Ishbala?

**A/N:** To quickly recap the polls in case of new readers (and because all poll data has been removed from previous chapters so no one thinks they're still open), here are the 3 results in short form.

The result of the first poll (on the details readers wanted me to give on the other Amestrains' lives) was, "Give details on key players, but general data on the others."

Because enough people voted for more general development options in the first poll, the second asked for the top four picks of people they want to see scenes with. The higher the final vote on each, the more scenes they're likely to have which aren't necessarily key points in the story line. The final result was: 1st: (tied) Izumi and Mustang **;** 2nd: Mei **;** 3rd: (tied) Hawkeye and Amal/Scar **;** 4th: Winry **;** 5th: (tied) Kamil and Fuery **;** 0 votes: Liam/Mick/another Gaian.

The final poll was a flop and removed from FFN.

Anyone with questions or a late vote, please let me know!

Ishbala?

Amal held the device called a 'PHS' in his hand as he stared at it with a mix of distrust, amazement, and confusion. He had seen, even used, telephones at times, but those made sense to him, as they had wires—obvious, visible wires—to transmit data from one end of the call to the other. These new phones, the hand-held and portable systems, had no wires, they just—transferred through thin air with no direct links. How wasn't even the issue—it was unnatural, easily as much as any alchemy he'd ever seen.

Or so said his Ishbalan heritage and training.

It bothered him.

Then again, so did every damned thing he'd seen since they'd set foot in this new world, from the 'pyreflies', as Fullmetal—Eden, he reminded himself—had called them, to the steel and concrete plate hovering a hundred and fifty meters above the Slums in Midgar. The monsters—which he'd found out were significantly different from animals after meeting a metal, house-like monster, then ending up with a small, black cat (1) sitting on his shoulder for most of a day—were another issue he had. And the Mako, the drugs which used it, the slave trade, and a thousand other things.

Lifting his other hand to look at the card he held in it, he assessed what this 'ID' meant. Identification cards were common—had been for a long time, even in Amestris—but now were also mandatory because of a major attack on Midgar which the blond State Alchemist had told him about. It let him travel unhindered, other than into very specific Shinra zones, and it let him get access to things his employers wanted him to have access to—combat equipment, food, a residence. He'd been surprised to find out there were four Sectors in the city which were intended as housing, often temporary, for people like mercenaries, who, by nature on Gaia, tended to travel a lot. With the ID he now had, he could use any of those, and even let others stay with him at them.

With that card, he'd been given another one, a bank card, which now worked everywhere in the world, even Wutai. It was where his employers would deposit his funds to, and where he could freely take money out from, either through the card directly or by going to a gil exchange office and taking cash out. The mercenary housing buildings apparently had machines in them which would also let people take cash out, leading him to think mercenaries used a great deal of cash on a regular basis, rather than their cards. With both Tseng and Lazard, the Directors of the Turks and SOLDIER, having assigned him a few regular tasks and deposited some money on the card for him, he'd be using it soon.

What was it with pale-skinned people and wanting to run on faith that something existed without tangible proof? The gil on his card didn't 'exist', it was a figment of his—and everyone's—imagination, and it was only because some machine, a 'computer', said the money existed that he could use it. The link, whatever link it was, between the PHS's was the same to him. Not to mention, white men (and some women) seemed to largely desire power above all else, and combining the 'fictional money' with that desire for power suddenly caused a lot of President's Shinra's behavior to appear 'logical'. After a fashion, anyway. If one's only goal was to own anything, or at least something, else sentient.

In fact, the only thing tangible which Eden had explained to him was 'Minerva' and Chaos and Omega Theory. He'd spent that portion of the Alchemist's data mentally comparing Minerva to Ishbala and finding an absurd number of parallels—enough that he could safely say they were definitely the same _kind_ of being, if not the same being. Why had Ishbala forsaken them? Eden's data had given him to understand that Ishbala hadn't, but Ishbala, like Minerva, wasn't an omnipotent being, and there were limits to what any one being could do to help if people insisted on being destructive fools. He felt ashamed for his people as a whole for ever claiming Ishbala had forsaken them. If their deity _had_ , _none_ of them would have survived to cultivate their people and beliefs.

A sudden jolt made him look up to see the train pulling up to the station in the Sector 7 Slums. Rising and putting his ID and PHS in his pockets, he moved over to the door and stepped off in a throng of other people once the conductor had opened the door. His first destination was the mercenary shop in Wall Market, as he'd refused any gear directly from the Turks and SOLDIER. They had been remarkably agreeable to that, instead directing him to the shop he was headed to now. Wall Market was also one of the mercenary residences he could use if he so chose, and one of the places Tseng had wanted him to handle criminal activity generally involving inanimate goods shipments.

Of his tasks, only that one wasn't handling monsters while the other three were, two of those from Lazard and the last from Tseng. Those sent him to the no-man's-land between the Slum Sectors 3 and 4, 4 and 5, and 5 and 6. Lazard had told him Slum Sectors 3, 4, and 5 were contaminated by a leak in Reactor 4 which the engineers hadn't been able to deal with until it had already caused a great deal of damage there, leading to repeated mass outbreaks of monsters in 3 and 4, with some of that spilling over into 5. Tseng had been decidedly candid in requesting that he keep no-man's-land between 5 and 6 clear so the Wutain's 'friend in the Slums' would be a little safer as she went about her day in that area.

He had also found it decidedly ironic how the mercenary residences had been arranged in the city. The one in Wall Market had been convenient enough, but the other Slum-based housing was across from that in Sector 2, and the two on the Upper Plate were in Sectors 4 and 8. Why was there mercenary housing on the Upper Plate when they weren't needed there for anything?

Looking up, he saw the obviously unfinished bottom of the Upper Plate above him, causing a subconscious shudder to run through his body. If that were ever to fall...

Upon first seeing the city, he'd been about ready to start yelling, "Demons! Heathens! Destroyers!" He'd only refrained at seeing the amazed, curious sparkle in Mei's eyes as she admired the sheer ingenuity it would have taken to build such a city. It didn't change the fact that his first reaction had been that he was walking into a nest of evil.

His first impression also hadn't changed since then.

Midgar was a nest of evil, despite the small points of light in all the darkness there. More than once, he'd wondered if the perpetual darkening of the sky, day or night, had more to do with the mindsets of the people living in Midgar rather than with what Midgar physically was or some natural reaction to, say, the Mako drain.

It didn't take him long to reach Wall Market or find the shop he'd been told was there. Like any shop, it had wares set out for people to browse, so he checked the items for ones he wanted to use. There was a sword he was familiar with, a short sword with a curved blade in a style similar to a shamshir, combat gloves, the Materia he'd been encouraged to take—currently only Gravity, Earth, and Restore were of interest to him, and he recalled the need to not touch them directly—and several types of 'armor'. How something which only covered your wrist could give you physical defense, he had no idea, but a minor test of one showed it worked, so he chose one of those, too.

With his card, he was able to purchase them without issue, and immediately strapped them on so he could go start his requested clearing in the no-man's-land areas of Midgar. The nearest to him was the area between Sectors 5 and 6, so he began there, using what he knew of alkahestry to work out how Materia functioned as he went. It didn't take him long to realize how close to Amestrian alchemy the 'spells' were, and that Materia had been given to people by Minerva...That effectively meant his new Ishbala encouraged people to change their environments through means Ishbalans had always taken as unnatural.

...Did that mean they had misinterpreted Ishbala's message in regards to alchemy? Had the message been to be cautious and not use it in the extreme, rather than to shun it entirely?

As he stopped and sat down near a dilapidated building resembling a 'Church', he pondered the question of what Minerva's message was versus what Ishbala's had been, and thought it was possible the Priests had interpreted the message incorrectly. It was entirely possible that 'caution' had become 'fear of change', 'fear of the unknown', and it wouldn't have been unreasonable. He only had less fear of alchemy because of his own experiences with using it himself, but the rest of his people, save a very small number, had never bothered to learn about it, fostering fear rather than understanding.

Suddenly, a fifteen-year-old girl in a white and blue striped dress and with brown hair passed by, smiling and waving to him as she went to the Church and stepped inside. He raised a brow slightly and rose to follow her, knowing it was rare for ordinary civilians without weapons to enter no-man's-land, yet here was this girl...

Inside the Church, he quietly stepped up to roughly the middle of the main aisle, watching as the girl tended the flowers growing against all logic in the mud left behind where the floor had broken. The statue past the hole depicted a woman in clothing like a cross between a priest's robe and a warrior's armor, but it had no color.

"You can come in and sit down, you know," the girl said without looking at him, still working on the flowers. She sounded amused.

"...You knew," he said after blinking in surprise.

"Knew what?" she asked innocently.

That annoyed him. Normally, he had little need to talk, but it seemed she was going to force him to explain himself. After a moment, he relented and said, "That I was here."

"Of course," she agreed warmly. "I didn't think anyone _else_ would have come in here after I saw you sitting outside."

If she hadn't had a response which showed her logic and observational skills, he would have been a lot more worried about her well-being. Even amongst Ishbalans, who treated their women very well compared to most, a woman wandering alone and weaponless still wasn't completely safe. The only reason he really hesitated to openly question her judgment was because she somehow—had an aura like one of his own people's priests or warrior-priests, and he'd been one of the latter, once upon a long time ago.

However, she was still only a fifteen-year-old girl, so he asked, "And what would you have done if I'd meant to harm you?"

"Oh, that," she said, for the first time looking up at him, green gaze amused. "I have a Fire Materia on me, and there are about—five people watching us right now who wouldn't hesitate to kill you if you actually tried to hurt me. The only reason they haven't shown themselves is because I'm not showing signs of confusion or distress."

"...That matters so much to them?" he blinked.

"I'm a good judge of character," she grinned, turning back to the flowers. "And Minerva is very happy you're here, too, so I don't have a reason to be worried."

"...Minerva, the entity Eden told me about?" he asked cautiously. "Or a person?"

She turned to look at him, gaze surprised, but then she grinned. "Oh, so you're another of the people from Eden's home! Did he tell you anything about me, or did you just manage to come here by chance?"

For a moment, he just stared at her curious gaze, then heaved a heavy sigh and sagged onto the nearest pew.

Before he could even formulate a thought or response, another tired sigh followed his, making the girl wave at someone in the direction of the doors as he turned to see who was there. An eighteen-year-old woman in mostly green clothes stood there, looking as tired as he suddenly felt, then paced towards them until she could sit in the pew across the main aisle from where Amal had sat down.

The girl was obviously familiar with the new arrival, as she greeted, "Hello, Felicia! I thought you were just in 'watch mode' today?"

"Shut up. I'm tired. Go back to your flowers," Felicia replied, closing her eyes.

With a giggle, the girl said, "After Eden's friend answers me."

After a silence, Amal directed at the older woman, "Is she _always_ like this?"

"Pretty much," Felicia agreed without opening her eyes. "She's a demanding little creature, and Odin forbid you _don't_ jump to obey her when she wants something. On the other hand, she worms her way into your heart just by meeting with you, and just accepts you for who you are with very little complaint about anything. And let's not get started on the number of people we'd have never trusted but now do thanks in great part to her. Annoying brat." The words made the girl giggle.

"I didn't ask for you to become my protectors, you know. Only my brothers are supposed to be my protectors," the younger girl replied in amusement.

"Brothers?" Amal found he had to ask. There were _others_ like her running around?

"She means Tseng and Eden," Felicia supplied.

For a moment, Amal's brain stalled as it tried to keep up with the host of realizations that data had provided. "Tseng sent me to clean up this area of monsters to protect her," he said flatly.

"Oh, is _that_ why you're here?" the older woman asked candidly, eyes still closed as her expression turned amused. "That guy never ceases to amaze me. Wutain or not, he's something else when it comes to his loyalties. Her name's Aeris, by the way. She's Tseng's sister in all but blood. Eden's, too, now."

"Hey..." the girl cut in, her tone whining. "You still haven't answered me!"

As he looked at her pouting expression and Felicia gave an amused snort, he realized her version of 'puppy-dog eyes' took that description to a whole new level. Even _Mei_ hadn't been so effective at it, and he found himself caving in and going back to her original question. "Eden was more worried about making sure I had a stable job than about introducing me to people around town. What I know about Minerva is because there were certain things he had discovered and needed to tell me about. So no, he hadn't spoken with me about you. Of course, he and I were—acquaintances at best, not friends, so I'd never have expected him to tell me about you," he told her.

"Oh, okay," she agreed cheerfully, turning back to the flowers.

A few moments later, as he watched—a flower which had been a small bud suddenly bloomed, and he sat back in amazement.

She was a Priest of Ishbala. Or, more accurately, of Minerva.

She was someone he could, and would, protect, a Priest surviving in this darkness, bringing desperately-needed light to temper it. As a Warrior-priest, he'd been trained to protect, especially civilians and the Priests, but he'd never actually thought he'd find another true Priest after the war...

Then a small, strange creature came poking around him and Felicia, then made its way over to the girl working on the flowers, where—it began helping her. It just _felt_ like some sort of spirit entity, and he sighed faintly again as he realized he'd never known a Priest so powerful.

That left him puzzling over how he would keep an eye on Mei while taking care of this young Priest...

SH

Kamil dragged a chair over and sat down beside Riza as she sat in a desk chair she'd pulled over to the window in the Turks' main office to closely examine the sniper rifle Tseng had shown her. "How goes the examination?" he asked her in amusement, knowing how important guns were to those who used them—even to him when he had been in the Amestrian Military.

"I've never seen a _folding_ sniper rifle before," she replied absently, tone showing her awe at the weapon. "I'd have thought it would sacrifice stability and shooting capability to do that, as it would mean the barrel has weak points twice along its length. Instead, the development _strengthens_ the barrel and has no effect on stability."

The man's brows rose at the data, and he asked, "So some of their technological advancements are truly more advanced than we realized by what weapons we could get our hands on before?"

"Effectively," she agreed, then looked up at him. "Do you realize one of my major reasons for joining the Turks is because Ed needs someone to watch over him?" she asked in amusement. He blinked, and she went on, "But now, I also think I really did make the right choice for myself, too, because even though the Infantry also has snipers, their rifles are nothing like the quality the Turks get."

"Good guns make all the difference, don't they?" a new voice asked cheerfully from the other side of the desk Riza's chair had been pulled over from. The two newest Turks looked up to see Freyra and a small, blond woman standing there, both looking amused.

"Freyra and Emma," Kamil said with a nod at them. Emma nodded in reply as Freyra gave a wave.

Riza had to give a small smile as she said, "At this point, I can't deny that. I hadn't thought it would matter so much, but in the end—it does."

"Because a Turk's life often depends on the quality of their weapons," Emma said with a nod, also looking amused. "So, Tseng called you Riha, right?"

"That's right," Riza agreed.

Kamil raised a brow as his lips twitched in amusement and he commented, "I feel like going 'yee-haw' now."

The named Riha gave him an amused look as Freyra howled with laughter and Emma chuckled. The older blond woman said, "Admittedly, I had the same initial reaction. Until he showed me what the other likely options were. Of them, Riha is probably the best one."

"Not to be a party-pooper, but I have a question for you," Emma put in suddenly. The two new Turks looked up at her curiously, so she said, "Our age of adulthood is fourteen, and we rarely legally end up with someone younger in a combat role. The only 'legal' one I know about is Sephiroth, but he was raised in the labs for his position, he's not someone off the streets. What were you _thinking_ when you hired a twelve-year-old to be a soldier?"

Riha sighed and said, "I can't vouch for what Bradley—our military leader—was thinking when he agreed, but I know what Roy and the others of us under his command were thinking. Yes, Ed's skills were too impressive to go to waste and if we'd waited, someone else could have taken him—that may have been Bradley's major reasoning. Ours was that the Edward we found when he was eleven was broken—until he was given something to focus on and reach for, a chance to undo the damage he'd done to his brother and himself.

"Roy had intended to be the one to keep him from collapsing, and the offer of the military resources did that—it gave Ed somewhere he could go, and a way to do something he couldn't have otherwise. Don't think for a moment we were trying to make him into a soldier or leave him unattended, because we didn't. Roy kept very close tabs on him and made sure he had help when he needed it. But, Edward has a bad habit of hoarding his troubles rather than sharing them, so there was only so much he would allow us to do for him."

Emma's gaze had gone from sharp to thoughtful to understanding as Riha had spoken, but before the younger woman could say anything, a voice put in, "That's good to know." Everyone looked in the direction the voice had come from to see that Tseng had recently come back from dropping Kain off with someone in the Urban Development Department. "I know myself how hard it is to take burdens off him, but there had still been many concerns about the life he lived with you. We're hardly paradigms of virtue, but some of the things he's told us haven't left us with a very—kind view of how you handled things."

"In our defense, the 'Eden' we knew was childish, temperamental, and explosive," Riha replied dryly. "If you said he was being 'short-sighted', he would beat you to a pulp while going on about how you'd said 'he was so small an ant was bigger' or some such, and he rarely obeyed any sort of order, even logical ones to keep him safe. He was young, and even after everything he'd already been through in his short life, he hadn't begun to mature until the reality of the situation we were facing had sunk in. It took Winry being the captive of one of our enemies to accomplish the first real improvement in his maturity level. He may have matured sooner if Maes had lived..." She drifted off a bit sadly at the last, still missing the man who had been so much a part of their lives.

Silence followed the words for a few minutes, until Tseng gave a small sigh and told her, "There may be some truth to that, and I'm rather thankful he's been as mature as he has since he's been here. I can safely say I wouldn't want to have to deal with the 'Eden' you're describing—I'd have probably shot him myself, or turned him over to Reno for 'training'."

"Oh, that's awful!" Freyra gasped in horror. "You can't do that to him!"

Tseng waved her off as he headed for his office. "I said 'if he'd been like that'. He hasn't been. In the meantime, Reno is still the one handling him while he's cleaning house for us, only because he won't challenge Reno and Reno can't be conned."

Emma snorted. "Our poor littlest brother, being left to Reno's 'care'."

"Hey, shaddap!" Reno scowled from the door, making everyone jump and look at him in surprise. "I ain't bein' an ass to him, yo! I even make sure the kid eats an' sleeps and frickin' _stops workin'_ when he's done for the day!"

"Speaking of, why aren't you with him?" Tseng asked dryly, checking the time.

"Had ta get him another marker while he's eatin' a snack, yo," Reno replied, quickly going to his desk to get said marker, then heading out of the room again.

"...What happened to the first one?" Freyra asked in confusion.

"Eden probably broke it in his frustration," Riha answered in amusement. Her gaze then went back to the sniper rifle as she stroked the barrel in a motion which could only be called 'lovingly'. Kamil blinked at the images the oddly lewd action called to mind as Freyra grinned and Emma gave an amused huff. Tseng just blinked and turned to go into his office—he couldn't have seen the actual action from where he stood.

Since it seemed the discussion was done for the moment, Kamil moved the chair back to its place and moved over to the desk he'd been assigned as he eyed the folders on it for a moment before sitting. Rather than opening the folders right away, he sat back to think a bit about how much his life—all of theirs—had changed.

He'd been wary of the city at first, not liking all of the implications behind it. While he didn't hold the same intensive belief in all of the cultural aspects of the Ishbalans, it had been obvious the city they were entering was as corrupt as Central. He'd been fine staying with the kids largely because he'd seen traces of the slave trade on their introductory walk in the Slums, something he'd dealt with several times at the border of Amestris and Drachma. By default, if Mustang hadn't allocated someone to watch over the kids, he would have offered himself and his men. And the slave trade was only one of the big problems with Midgar.

Having met Eden and gotten the whole story from him changed things, a lot of them. The logic behind 'the Planet' and even behind the Ishbalan religion had begun to make sense in a way and context they hadn't before, and the new data had significantly changed his view of what was needed and who his allies were. It was entirely true that the Turks were the only ones who really stood a chance at making those changes, and that they had a viable method—they were already moving things along quickly, and without pacing themselves, they could create as many problems as they were solving. It was also nice to no longer have to watch over their kids, as others were doing so for them—that fact gave the adults the time and the ability to work on saving the world so the kids would have one to grow up in.

All-in-all, changes aside, with them being unable to go home, moving forward was really the only viable option, and Eden had managed to use his incredible luck to make sure they would be able to.

He smiled faintly as he opened the top folder in front of him and saw the same kind of chicken-scratch Eden wrote with, only marginally neater than he was used to seeing it. Maybe things really wouldn't be so bad, and Tseng was shaping up to be surprisingly skilled and capable—much like a younger General Armstrong just coming into her power.

That was something he'd be able to respect in time, and he was grateful for it.

 **Notes:**

(1) Even this cat isn't an OC—this is Blackie, the black cat once belonging to a boy named Evan Townshend in the FFVII light novels "Lateral Biography Turks: The Kids are Alright." Apparently around the time Evan would be 10 (right now), Blackie 'went on his own adventure,' so I'm having Blackie decide he likes Amal in this altered version of Blackie's 'adventure', which wouldn't have happened in the original. There's actually a REASON Blackie likes him, though. Any guesses?


	26. 23-Assessment

**A/N:** Riza Hawkeye will now mostly be known as Riha—though I think she gets more time with her own name rather than her new, Turk name. She's the third last one getting a rename, so you won't have to remember many more. One is a Gaian character who hasn't appeared in person yet, and the other is of a familiar character and happens a couple chapters from the end of Salvation's Hands.

Assessment

"Daydreaming? Really?" Genesis asked in an amused tone, poking Roy's forehead with one finger, and the man blinked and looked up at him in mild confusion.

A quick look around showed Roy an amused tailor holding a full bag of clothing, so he looked back at Genesis and said, "Not daydreaming, thinking. Before you question it, for me, yes, those are very different things, immediate result aside." He rose and asked, "We're done here now?"

"We are—it's just your assigned weapons and Materia now," Genesis agreed. "We don't get those here, though."

When the tailor offered the bag to Roy, he took it with a small thanks and told the younger man, "Lead the way, then."

Genesis did, but asked as he went, "So what are you thinking so intently about?"

Roy, who had been about to drift into thought again—mostly about all the new data Ed—en had given him earlier—looked over at his new 'superior' and asked bluntly, "Won't people think you're strange for taking on a second who's older than you?"

"Lazard asked me about that, too," Genesis agreed in amusement. "I showed him the photo Tseng sent me of you and he thought you were only around twenty-five, which is only about two years older than me, not closer to ten. You look a lot younger than your actual age, and your looks correspond with the average age a person would make First Class—assuming they got into SOLDIER between sixteen and eighteen. So no, most people won't take it as all that strange, and would be more worried about your complete unknown status than about your age. But I don't think that's what's really on your mind right now."

"That was one of my legitimate questions, though," Roy answered with a smirk. When the red haired man just gave him a pointed look, the black haired man gave a faint sigh and asked, "Are you _really_ okay with this after I tried to blow you up with a bomb and shot you?"

"Of course," the red haired man agreed with a wry grin. "We knew what we were doing and that we all stood to get hurt because you lot would be taking us as legitimate threats. After realizing the implications of the section of LOVELESS I'd been reading, I also realized I sort of set myself up to get a stronger reaction from you than the others got. The fact is—you actually managed to take me enough by surprise that you got a shot in which _hit_ me, which is hard to do, so that's a point in your favor, not against it."

The older man was quiet as they made their way to one of the rooms on one of the floors allocated to SOLDIER training. It was obviously an equipment storage room—and a complete mess. Roy watched in something like bemusement as Genesis made his way around the room and gathered things: a standard-issue SOLDIER sword, two bracer armors known as Shinra Alphas, and several of the orbs the black haired man recognized as Materia. Genesis stumbled more than once as he made his way around the room, but offered no complaint and didn't even look annoyed.

"Does the state of disarray in this room really not bother you at all?" Roy asked the younger man, still bemused.

As Genesis made his way back to Roy, he replied, "It's been like this for as far back as I can remember, so why bother complaining?"

"...Wouldn't complaining get it cleaned up?" the other man blinked in surprise as he followed the younger again.

"It would be more likely to get us an oath of secrecy on threat of death by Turk," the red haired man replied. "Besides, if I'm understanding things right, Eden's disciplinary duty is to clean up all these storage nightmares for us."

Roy had to snort at the words. "Well, he'll do a good job of it, at least, but now I know why he didn't want to make his punishment worse."

"I'm honestly not sure how it could get worse," Genesis replied in amusement as he led the way down a hall lined by many doors which reminded Roy of apartments rather than of offices. "We're right down..." the younger man muttered as the older watched him in mild puzzlement. "Ah, here," Genesis finished as he stopped by one door and pushed it open.

Some janitors were moving his personal furniture into place as they collected the original items of those types near the door. One of them saw him and called, "We're almost done with the change-over, Commander! Then we'll be able to take the rest and get out of your hair—maybe about half an hour longer?"

"That's fine," Genesis agreed. "Looks like my table's set up, so let's sit there for now, Roy."

"Sure," the older man agreed, and both of them made their way over to it, Roy peering at the purple wood curiously before asking, "So, what things—the Materia, that is—did you pick for me?"

"All four basic elements—Fire, Ice, Lightning, and Earth—Heal, Restore, some Alls, an Elemental, Gravity, Poison, and Added Effect," the Commander replied. "And I'll give you my Bahamut later—after I've seen how you handle yourself on a few missions. You have four slots, two linked and two not, on your sword and three linked pairs on each bracer, so you have eighteen slots. You may change that later as you get better gear, but given what I know about you, you'll want Fire and Elemental paired in your sword for sure, and for someone new to SOLDIER-level combat, Poison and Added Effect will make your life easier, even defensively, because for us, being poisoned is _not fun_. It'll never kill us, but it'll never wear off, either." Genesis made a face at the words, and Roy blinked.

"Are you saying you expect something to poison me?" the older man asked in amusement.

"Yes," Genesis agreed. "Most Mako-enhanced monsters have something which counts as poison enough for that combo to defend against it, and there are quite a few monsters which use poison as a regular attack as well. Malboros are one of the worst because they use _very strong_ poison on their—prey—and have been known to leave the Northern Crater to torment villages as far south as Fort Condor and Junon. I spent a week in agony as a Second because of those bloody things, and the only real benefit I got out of it was having their Bad Breath attack—the poison and other effects one—added to my Enemy Skill Materia without having to go to the Northern Crater to get it."

"So you gave me eighteen slots, but only fourteen Materia?" Roy asked as Genesis placed the items on the table for the other man to examine.

"You'll fill the rest soon enough—we'll just start with the pending Bahamut, which you _will_ want, because it's quite a powerful Summon," Genesis answered. "I'll get into that more when I'm going to give it to you. As for the Alls—these four here—you could use all of them or just one, but you'll want to pair those with Materia you'll want to have hit multiple targets when they'd normally only hit one. Gravity, Restore, Heal, and the basic elements outside Fire are your options to pair them."

"Why not Fire?"

"If you're anything like me, Elemental will end up doing double duty as an All, _and_ give you the Elemental effect and boost in battle."

"I see," the black haired man blinked.

The two kept discussing the items Genesis had chosen for him until the janitors had left, then both decided to rest for awhile in their new rooms.

So far that day, they had barely touched on anything of real importance, other than what Ed—en had told him. Roy made himself comfy sitting against the headboard of the bed while he thought about the situation and worked out several 'technical issues' with his new gear (who had thought of the absurd number of straps—and buckles—on the SOLDIER uniforms?) and examined his new Materia more closely now that he knew all he needed was gloves to do so. All the while, his mind was also working on his new position, the way all their lives had changed, the state of the world.

Ah, yes—the state of the world. It was an absurdly small planet, as Eden had pointed out, and didn't have enough of its own mass to sustain itself if people managed to destroy its 'sentience'. As a scientist and a soldier, it had always been against his beliefs to devote himself to an entity with no tangible basis in a real, physical form, and he'd thought the two Elric brothers shared that view. Up until the battle against 'Father', they _had_ shared it. Ed would have sooner denounced anything which resembled a 'miracle' than sworn up and down that it was real, yet on this world, the boy had somehow come to believe in that entity.

With a small sigh, Roy muttered, "You and your brother just _had_ to throw everything into chaos, didn't you, Fullmetal?" He then gave a wry smile and added, "Then again, I'd be bored if you didn't. Though, I'd have rather had a choice in the change of locale."

His gaze moved to the Shinra Alpha he held as he murmured, "Summon..."

He knew the term. The spirit of a sentient entity being called forth to do a human's bidding. Not only had he previously thought that impossible, a mere fairy tale, but something both incredibly arrogant and asinine. After having found out how the Philosopher's Stone was made, however, he'd modified his view of it to 'within the range of possibility, but incredibly cruel and the height of arrogance and self-importance.' Did he _want_ 'a summon'? Power was besides the point—he didn't like the idea of forcing someone's soul to do his bidding, especially not in battle situations. At the same time, what did he actually _know_ about _these_ 'summons'? If Genesis could just give him one, they were obviously fairly common and well-known, yet he didn't see them running around all over the place...

When he and the others had first arrived in the wasteland outside the city, he had been—devastated by the loss of everything he'd held dear and the country he'd fought so hard to protect. He had remembered some bits of the pause they'd had by the Gate before being sent to their new location, but it hadn't prepared him for where they had landed. He had also realized it had most likely been a one-way trip, something Al should have know but hadn't told them. On the other hand, it likely wouldn't have made any difference with how high-handed Truth had proven to be, as everyone still would have been in the room to see them off. Because it had been a one-way trip, however, and they had to find food and shelter quickly, he had never had much time to think about their new situation.

Upon seeing Midgar and being faced with the Slums, however, he'd also realized they were at a huge disadvantage, and it had been all they could do to make sure everyone had enough food to eat. It was just a good thing the three kids they'd had with them weren't inclined to get into trouble and had mainly kept themselves out of it. There had been enough things to worry about without needing to worry about them, too, and getting work was only the tip of the iceberg. Until he'd been able to sit and talk with Eden, the mixed data he'd been getting piece-meal in the Slums had been almost useless, but then it had started to make sense, and now he also knew several of the flaws with the data he'd been able to find.

But to just arbitrarily be handed a job, especially one as high-profile as a SOLDIER—was Shinra _always_ so random?

At the moment, though, he thought it was just maybe a very good thing Shinra was apparently prone to such random actions.

"I guess we'll see how things go," he smirked, finally getting all his equipment in order—every belt, buckle, weapon, and Materia in place.

"What things are going to go somewhere?" Genesis asked in confusion from the doorway to his room—

And Mustang had to laugh at that. Just maybe, this really _had_ been the best decision.

"It's not that funny," the red haired man said dryly. "Let's get some sword training in so I can start making a real plan for tomorrow."

"All right, then," the older man agreed, picking up his sword and rising to follow Genesis from the room.

SH

Most of the rest of Eden's day involved working on sorting, other than a break for supper and to take Al and Winry over to Shalua's apartment building to arrange apartments for them. Anthony and Tifa met them there, as did Elena, Shalua, and Shelke. It didn't take long for the boys to get established across the hall from Shalua's place, and Winry and Tifa were in a corner apartment on that floor, giving them extra light. The boys had decided to go shopping for some furniture that night (Al had asked Ed for some cash to shop with), but the girls had decided on Tifa doing the shopping at her leisure with a list of things Winry wanted and some of the blond fifteen-year-old's money.

How Reeve had gotten Winry to leave behind her work long enough to arrange a place to live, Ed wasn't sure, but she did tell him she'd have his new leg in a couple days. It would have been ready for him immediately after supper, but apparently, he'd grown quite a bit in the last three days. For her, that meant extending the length of the leg, but because the base was built, it would require her to remodel a substance resistant to modification. She had also admitted that Reeve's knowledge and some techniques she'd learned from him would help greatly in auto-mail size adjustments.

While he, Tifa, and Winry were looking around their apartment, the blond girl commented, "Hey, Ed, I know you—didn't grow much in one shot before, but now that I think about it, you only grew a few centimeters, at best, in five months—then suddenly grew over an inch in a few days? Isn't that really strange?"

Eden looked at her in mild surprise as Tifa turned around to blink at Eden in confusion—and she commented, "You know, she's right. You used to look more like a twelve or thirteen-year-old—a pretty buff one, but still only that age, and now you're taller and look older. What's next, facial hair?" She was grinning as she made the last comment.

"Oh, ha, ha," the blond Turk replied in a disgusted tone as the girls chuckled.

"But Ed, this actually is an important question I need answered," Winry said, gaze showing some worry. "If you're going to keep growing at the rate you are, I may have to remodel the leg enough for you to extend it yourself, which will sacrifice its stability. I—"

"What leg?" Tifa cut her off to ask in confusion. In reply, Eden pulled up his pant leg to show her the metal limb, his gaze amused as she moved over to look at it in curious amazement.

"Anyway, I know you had a theory about why you weren't growing so much before, but by the logic of that theory, once your body was relieved of the double burden, you should have been growing the entire time you've been here—not just started right now. And people don't normally grow an inch in three days, either. How have you been keeping your balance or not felt any pain?" the blond girl asked, getting back to the point.

"Winry, I'm desensitized to most normal pain," the blond boy told her dryly, making her blink and cock her head to the side. "But actually...I _have_ been 'feeling' it without realizing that's what I was doing, because I've been more achy than normal, especially in the morning when I wake up. My balance also hasn't been that great—I've been tripping or dropping things a lot more, mainly while cleaning out the storage rooms, and a lot of my time outside that has been spent sitting or standing, not moving. As for the other—keep looking around and making your arrangements while I think on that, because you do have a good point about my growth."

At his request, the two girls kept looking around the place and making plans for what to do with it, sometimes getting into debates and making some compromises. All-in-all, though, the two girls found they'd probably be able to live together reasonably well when Winry wasn't at work and Tifa wasn't at school. Each of them left their personal bedrooms for later, as they'd work on those independently, but some of the compromises they made in other rooms both of them would use made Ed raise his brows.

Finally, when they were done, they rejoined him in the living room and Winry asked, "Well, what's your answer, Ed?"

"Only one thing would actually fit, and even then, if I wasn't so aware of Truth's games and Minerva's presence here, it would be really far-fetched. In fact, the only reason it could be used as an explanation is because I know Minerva intervenes in my life directly a great deal," he began.

"Who are Truth and Minerva?" Tifa asked with a confused expression.

"Minerva is the name of the consciousness of the Lifestream," Eden told the brown haired girl. "And Truth is the keeper of—I guess you could call it 'the Gate of Knowledge'. I also know it by another name, but that's not important at the moment."

"So what _is_ important in bringing them up?" Winry asked, frowning thoughtfully.

"Minerva is giving some of us certain allowances for our help," the blond Turk told her. "She's especially giving a lot of them to me—everything from my income to the people I've met, she's had some hand in. I think she knew there was no one here who could have properly remade or fixed my leg up until this point, and I'd have been useless to her if I couldn't function because of my body's physical growth, so she literally suppressed my body's ability to grow until someone could remake my leg. If I'd had to wait for Reeve to be able to do it, I'd have had to wait longer, but because you turned up and only need a few days to make me a whole new limb, she figured she could now safely unlock my growth. On that same token, though, because my growth has been artificially suppressed since I was eleven, I have a lot of catching up to do—which is what we're seeing now in my extreme growth. (1) At least, that's what I think it is."

Winry crossed her arms and looked off into the distance thoughtfully as Tifa just gaped at him in shock. The blond girl was the one who finally said absently, "If that's the case, it's probably best if you have a re-sizable leg for a couple weeks, at least, but I don't want to leave you with a weak limb for too long, either...If you have to travel, I may need to make a few sizes for you to take with you, but I hope your growth will slow down again a bit after this initial surge gets out of your system...Well, we'll have to see." She then looked at him and said, "It may be best for you to get another leg from me the day after tomorrow, and I'll account for another—third of an inch of growth, meaning it'll be a bit too big when you get outfitted with it. Hopefully. That'll give you more time before you'll have to start extending it."

"Fair enough. Just give Tseng a call when you're ready for me to go get it. He'll make the arrangements," Eden agreed. "Anyway, are we done here now?"

"We're done now," Winry agreed. "Let's head back to the Shinra building—and you should see about getting new uniforms when we get there." She then faced Tifa with a grin and said, "I'll see you around, and don't forget to call me if you need help with setting things up here."

"I will, thanks!" Tifa agreed with a smile in return at the other girl.

With that, the two blonds headed back to the Shinra building and Winry returned to work on Reeve's floor while Eden first stopped at the tailor's for new uniforms, then went back to work on the storage rooms with Reno watching over him. Of the six rooms, there had been the one with glass science equipment, the Materia storage room, regular office supplies (blank paper, pens, paper clips, and so on) and standard department report forms, chemical supplies, engineering gears and wires, and generic technological pieces and common devices. The last included things like video and audio card microchips, spare keyboards, spare mice, and other similar things. Most of the things he saw in the last two rooms he'd never have seen in Amestris, just like with the Materia room, so Tseng was successfully forcing him to acknowledge that he wasn't in Amestris anymore, familiar faces aside.

While Eden knew what was in each room, he hadn't done much actual sorting of all but the glass science equipment and Materia rooms, because earlier in the day, his priority hadn't been sorting the rooms so much as getting the shelves into place and labeling the boxes with the marker. Reno had even helped him move the shelves—he hadn't helped with the boxes, other than a few in the office supply room (large boxes of paper were _heavy_!), but it went without saying that at least two people would be needed to maneuver the large, metal shelves. It had taken hours just to move the boxes so the shelves could be placed and to label the open boxes.

As such, when he went back to work, it was with the intent to get the mostly-sorted boxes in the glass equipment and Materia rooms onto the shelves in some semblance of order. The open boxes went largely on the two shelves closest to eye level, and extra boxes of the same type went on lower or higher shelves, their hand-written labels blatantly obvious in black marker on the side facing the aisle. Most of the space on the shelves in both rooms was filled by those boxes, making Reno give an impressed whistle at how close the blond had called the shelf space needed.

Finally, once those two rooms were as sorted as they were going to be, it was about time for Eden—who was quite exhausted by then, anyway—to stop, so Reno gave him a drink and shooed him out about fifteen minutes early.

"Why are you letting me go earlier than the time Tseng gave you?" Eden asked the older Turk as they stepped into the elevator, Reno's arm around his shoulders.

"The Bossman didn't give an 'exact' time, yo, just said 'between nine and ten,'" Reno answered, shrugging. "Ya did a lotta work, so it's up ta me to decide if you get ta go a bit sooner."

Looking down at his dusty, sweaty clothes with a small sneer, the blond Turk said, "Thanks for that—I'm probably going to need any spare time I can get to shower after every day's work. I'm going to run out of uniforms if they keep getting this dusty, though. What can I do about that?"

"Keep one dusty uniform ta work in, yo. I'll let ya go back to your room ta change before or after workin'. If it's the dusty one, though, give it a shake over the balcony so it don't look ta be in such bad shape when ya put it back on, yo."

"...That will probably work. Thanks, Reno."

The red haired man's response was to give his shoulder a pat.

 **Notes:**

(1) To clarify this for people, I think FMA:B/manga had Ed at about the same height as Winry by the time they fought 'Father', but too many of the scenes from my perspective didn't actually show that adjustment reliably. We'll just START with a virtual lack of things like growing pains for the supposedly five inches he grew in a few months, lack of Adam's apple, and continued lack of facial hair growth, which all would have been showing by the time of the battle with 'Father' if he had actually grown that much in the time noted. It's possible this is the result of the author not realizing Caucasian people grow slightly differently than Asians do (Asians' growth is more even and less prone to sudden extremes), but it still means there's a disparity in Ed's growth as a Caucasian.

For my purposes, between the incident with Gluttony and the battle with 'Father', he had only grown about an inch, from 4 foot 11 inches (his height for most of the story) to about 5 feet. When he arrived on Gaia, he was about 5 feet tall, which is still tall for a 12-13 year old, but he also still wasn't having the other chemical reactions which would have caused him to look more like an older teen or adult—as Tifa noted.

He's now between 5 foot 1 and 5 foot 2. In 3 days. The rest of the chemical reactions will take longer to show up, and in the meantime, his sorting in the storage rooms is helping him re-learn his balance in a non-life-threatening situation.


	27. 24-Proof of Intent

Proof of Intent

It was the morning after Eden had finished working out what to do with the rest of the Amestrians, and Tseng was sitting in his office with his two newest Turks across the desk from him.

The blond woman he'd ended up naming Riha suited their uniform especially well, and stood with her arms bent behind her to rest at the small of her back. She had both a handgun and a sniper rifle hidden under her jacket, and white, cloth gloves on her hands. Beside her, Kamil had taken a similar stance, though he had more weapons on him—a handgun in a side holster and twin daggers in sheaths at his waist and covered by his jacket, plus another, smaller pair in holsters on his calves, covered by his socks and pants. He had gone with black, cloth gloves. Both had a bracer known as a Shinra Alpha, which had built-in defense against both physical and magical damage in general, but they only had three linked pairs of slots for Materia. Their military training showed in their 'relaxed' stance.

"So, how are you adapting to the functionality of the Materia, Riha, Kamil?" Tseng asked them, looking first at the pale woman, then at the darker man.

"It's a new thing to effectively be in the same category as an alchemist back home," Riha answered. She was still adapting to the fact that she now had access to that kind of power. "But they're very useful. I'm just glad I only have twelve slots—I don't think I could handle any more." Her handgun had two linked pairs and her sniper rifle had one linked pair.

"That's a pretty big consideration to number," Kamil agreed, also still adapting to it. "As useful as they are, I have a definite limit on the sheer complexity of them. How Eden can keep forty of them straight and stay sane, I'll never know, deficiencies and benefits aside." His main pair of daggers each had a pair of linked slots while his smaller, secondary set had one slot each and his handgun had a linked pair. He hadn't slotted Materia in every slot yet, somehow knowing there were other ones to find.

"And for you, it's truly 'aside'," Tseng put in, gaze slightly amused. "As long as what you have on you is useful to you, that's the important thing. You both use more than I do because my other skills actually suffer from using Materia, so you have a greater range for efficiency. You'll have more time to work with them later, but right now, we have something else to do."

"We do?" the two older Turks asked questioningly.

"I need each of you to retrieve a child from their current residences and meet me on floor forty-three, where Mrs. Curtis is, with them," the Wutain answered, pushing the files over to the two. They each picked up the folder closest to them, opening them to examine the data, as Tseng went on, "Both are orphans I want to introduce to Mrs. Curtis to see if she'll adopt them. You'll also get to talk with her this way, and going to get these two should be easy. With the girl here at the Academy facility and the boy at the Shinra-run orphanage in Sector Four, the only issue will be time. Kamil, head to the orphanage now and give me a call when you're on your way back with him. I'll send Riha to get the girl once you're on your way back."

The two traded looks, then Kamil gave a nod and said, "Yes, Sir." He dropped the folder back onto the desk and left to find the five-year-old boy who looked—half-Wutain.

After Kamil had left, Riha asked, "Do you still need me for anything else, Sir?"

"Just to let you know we've worked things out to give you every right to visit your closest friends, Third Mustang and Mr. Fuery. We're not going to hide the ties between you, we're going to use them openly to divert suspicion from what we're actually doing. I've done the same with Kamil and his two 'Briggs men'. If we have Mrs. Curtis' support as well, we should have a fairly well-rounded information network. It will certainly be a better one than we previously had," Tseng replied. Riha picked up the folder on the boy and opened it, making Tseng raise a brow at the action. "Do you normally snoop into others' assignments?"

She looked up at him for a moment and saw faint amusement in his gaze, so she returned her attention to the contents of the folder as she replied, "No, not normally. I often acted in place of Roy's secretary because anyone else who tried to fill the role for him got—intimidated and backed down, meaning he didn't get his paperwork done. My habit is still to handle that paperwork, but in this case—you've chosen two children who look half-Xin—half-Wutain. I know you want Mrs. Curtis to adopt them, but I think it's better if you fill me in before you make a serious faux-pas with her."

"A what?" the younger man asked with a raised brow. He'd heard some pretty odd terms from Eden before, and others from Mei and still others from the other Amestrians, but that one didn't even sound like the same _language_ either used.

"A misstep, either through unintentional insult or plain arrogance and certainty you've already reached your goal," the woman answered, gaze faintly amused, then shut both files and returned them to his desk as she met his gaze. "With Mrs. Curtis, that's a _very_ easy thing to do."

She had realized almost as soon as she'd met the young Turk Director that he was in over his head and knew it—he desperately needed someone with command experience to give him some form of support and guidance. He was still little more than a boy who had suddenly had the responsibility of—more than one experienced adult—dropped on him, and while she could commend his ability to do as much as he could...It really did seem that she could help him more than she'd thought at first, and she could start by helping something extra go in his favor.

"I've been over the plan with her already, and she agreed as far as meeting the children I had in mind. I'm making no assumptions that she'll agree, but I haven't actually told her anything she opposed vehemently to yet, so I have some hope. I know she hasn't made a definite decision at this point, and probably won't for a day or two after she meets the two. I also know she's going to have terms to add to the bargain, and the only real sticking point is in whether I can accommodate them," Tseng told her.

With a nod, Riha agreed, "That's a good start, but you're still going to need bargaining leverage. I have experience in bargaining with her, so tell me the plan so I can give you input into what may appeal to her. The more prepared you are in advance, the more likely you'll be to get something relatively favorable from someone who strongly opposes the type of governance you belong to."

At first, Tseng was admittedly insulted by her assumption that he hadn't planned thoroughly enough, but he kept his expression even as he eyed her. She _did_ have a point in saying she knew the woman better than he did, so it likely _was_ possible she could offer insight he _hadn't_ thought of. As he met her gaze, he realized Riha wasn't trying to insult him at all—she was trying to make the situation as favorable as she could for all of them. He could plan, and plan well, but Eden had proven time and time again that Amestrians didn't have quite the same thought patterns and processes the people of the Planet did.

Finally, he nodded and explained the background he was giving the woman, finishing by saying, "We've explained her ties to all of you by saying that, regardless of her family, she strongly enjoyed traveling. She had visited the same village we've listed the rest of you from, so when Eden left there, the first place he went to was her place for lessons—and this also gives Eden a cover for how friendly the people of Gongaga generally are towards him. It would also have been one of the first places your group technically would have visited when you 'followed' Eden, for that reason. Since she wasn't there, but was headed in this direction, you followed and ended up meeting up with her and her family here, doing what you could to assist them. Until Genesis took your friends from the warehouse all of you were staying at."

Tseng paused for a moment before finishing, "Mainly, it gives Mrs. Curtis and the two children stability, but it puts Mrs. Curtis in a position where she can keep an eye on the goings-on in the city itself, reporting back to me with anything which may threaten the general public. Eden suggested some sort of shop as her 'front', but I had thought to let her choose what sort here on the Plate. Otherwise, her attention would be on raising the children, teaching them—and where the two go from there will depend on them when they're old enough. I hadn't intended on placing more requirements or restrictions on her, other than the potential of taking over protection or evacuation of civilians in the area if necessary."

Riha's gaze had moved to the window thoughtfully as he had spoken, and she was quiet for a minute after he had finished before she said, "It's a good start, and the cover itself is certainly well done." Her eyes moved to him and she said, "Let her choose her place—on the Plate or in the Slums. Choosing her own venue is a must, but if you intend to have her accomplish protection or evacuation, she'll need to have the authority to _do so_ , _including_ overriding the commands and guards at the gates—or gaps—in the city walls. Also, she's suspicious by nature, and if she has no access to _real data_ , you'll lose her from the start. You'll need to cover her for those, as well, and in a way where no one can force her to go against her morals—she can't be an _accessible_ employee."

Blinking, then blinking again, Tseng sat back and gazed at the woman across from him with some mild amazement. She had told him points he really hadn't given much thought to, and the big question was whether it was even possible to do what she was asking. After a pause, he rose and went to his shelves, going through them quickly as he skimmed over data and discarded source after source. Sometime in the middle of his search, Kamil called to say he was on his way back, and Tseng went right back to searching, as he _had_ to have an answer to that _before_ meeting Izumi again.

"What are you doing?" a familiar voice asked in mild amusement, making Tseng turn to see Riha meticulously collecting folders and regulation books off the floor while Kariya stood at the door, leaning on the jamb with an amused gaze.

"Looking for a possible method to give someone very high status and power without making them an employee to be called upon like any other one," Tseng answered, expression suddenly annoyed. "But there doesn't seem to be anything which fits the description."

"You're looking in the wrong place," Kariya replied with a chuckle, moving over to the far end of the shelves and pulling a narrow folder off the top shelf, then an equally narrow book off the shelf below it. Those, he handed to Tseng, then asked, "So who's our newest member, then?" His gaze moved to Riha, who ignored him.

First, the younger man blinked down at the two items Kariya had handed to him, then looked up at the older Turk to say, "Riha and a man called Kamil have joined us in the last few days." He then looked back at the woman and asked, "Why are you cleaning up _my_ mess?"

She continued to collect folders and books into meticulous, ordered stacks as she said, "Your office needs a new organizational system. I'm starting to wonder how you even find anything here."

Both men were quiet for a minute before Kariya said, "You didn't answer the question, though."

Her gaze moved up to him as she said, "I'm cleaning it up because I was the reason Tseng started pulling it all apart in the _first_ place. Your lack of organization still just—floors me. Who set up this system?"

Tseng's gaze became amused as he said, "The apparent disorganization is deliberate so someone coming in here to find something will have a difficult time doing so. Also, everything is actually filed by those number and letter codes on the edges of any hand-written paperwork. Only Turks know the code—you'll be learning it shortly."

He then flipped open the book Kariya had given him and began skimming through it until he found the section which gave him the terms he needed for Izumi Curtis. In the folder was the appropriate form, and he knew at a glance that it was surprisingly lenient for the usual Shinra contract forms. At least it _was_ what he needed, and gave him more to use to bargain with her—in turn, that made it more likely the woman would accept the terms.

"Thanks for this, Kariya," Tseng said with a nod at the man. He then faced Riha and said, "You can go find the young lady for me now, and leave this to me to clean up."

The woman paused for a minute to assess the younger man's expression, realized he needed a few minutes of privacy with 'Kariya', then gave a nod and rose, leaving the office quickly as Kariya watched.

"I'm guessing she's one of the 'Amestrians' Genesis brought back from the Slums?" the orange haired man asked, holding a few discs out to Tseng.

"She is, but one of the ones we baited," Tseng agreed, taking the discs. "How did things go?"

"Most of the runners were shipping things north, towards the northern continent, but it didn't sound like they were going to Bone Village or Icicle Inn. Judet has been noticing pretty regular strangers picking up occasional goods in the latter, though. We'd need better equipment to search the area more thoroughly," Kariya explained.

"What kinds of goods are the runners shipping? Weapons?"

"Everything from rare monsters to science equipment and tech parts to drugs and weapons. Even people, I think, but the human traffickers have gotten good at avoiding us. I don't think we'd be able to do anything to find out more on that side unless we set up a sting to catch them."

"Hmm..." the Wutain murmured with a small frown, then looked down at the book and folder he held. "That's another point. I'll have to see how things go shortly, which means sending Quis back to Bone Village once he recovers. Take a break for a bit and visit with your kids—unless there's another mission you feel you _must_ do right now?"

Kariya gave a snort and said, "No, I'm good for now. Visiting the munchkins will be good. See you later, then." He gave a wave and left as he pulled a cigarette out, Tseng close behind him. Their paths diverged at the elevator.

Soon after, Tseng was on floor forty-three, and Kamil and Riha were there, each with one of the two children he'd sent them to get. Their eyes were dark and their hair was black, both with a bit of a feathering effect like the people of Gongaga had, and which some Wutains had which caused them to tie their hair back so strictly. Yes, the tying back was a sign of honor, but for people who had soft, flyaway hair which often stood up in spikes, it also kept said hair under control. No one was quite sure why some Wutains had that trait when most had silky hair which fell straight. The boy's hair only fell to around his chin and stuck up like Zack's while the girl's was just past her shoulders and seemed to feather out around her face while braided pigtails kept the longer parts tamed.

With a nod, he said, "This way," and led the way to the room where Izumi rested, giving a nod to Sora as they reached the door.

When he knocked, Izumi called, "Enter!" in a surprisingly strong voice, so he opened the door and looked around the room. She was standing at the window while she repeatedly flexed one of her arms—the one she'd hurt worst during their attack on the building. "So you're back," she commented to Tseng before her eyes moved to the two children—and with some surprise, moved to Riha and Kamil. "Hawkeye, Miles."

"It's good to see you on your feet, Mrs. Curtis," Kamil told her with a small smile. "I go by Kamil now, though."

She eyed him for a moment before admitting, "Ed—en mentioned the change in name to me. His, anyway. I'll get used to it." Her gaze moved to the blond woman as she asked, "And your new name?"

"Riha. It's good to know Eden has already filled you in on a lot, since it saves us all a lot of time and headaches," the blond woman answered, looking a little amused.

Izumi gave a small nod and looked at the two children, who were peering at her from behind Tseng, their gazes wary but strong.

"Kamil, do you think you could go find SOLDIER First Zack Fair for me?" Tseng asked of the man, who raised a brow, but nodded.

"I have a pretty good idea where to find him, yes. Do I return here with him or send him to your office?" Kamil asked.

"Here is fine," the Wutain agreed, so Kamil left. Tseng then pulled out his PHS, put a call through, and told the person on the other side, "I need you to come to floor forty-three, room thirty-seven." He hung up, then pointed at each child and said by way of introduction, "Meet Naomi and Ken. (1) The names are both ones used in Wutai and in Gongaga, but they would have been written differently and had different meanings. Ken was originally Kenji, but since he's been in our care, we've shortened it. These are the children I had intended for you to adopt."

She eyed the pair for a minute before saying, "They're quite young."

"Is that a good thing or a bad one?" Tseng asked, head tipped to the side.

"...Why did you ask for those two others to join us?" Izumi asked, rather than answer him, even as she held her hands out in offering, one to each child. Both seemed surprised by the offer.

"They'll be visiting you as fellow Gongagans," the younger man told her.

"I still have—issues with—what you want me to do," she said. "My biggest one is that I'll have no access to data to tell me what's really going on—the only thing I'll get is Shinra's propaganda. Without facts to base my best course of action on, I don't feel comfortable having any ties to you."

The Wutain's eyes went to Riha for a moment, then returned to Izumi as he said, "Yes, Riha pointed out to me that—problem. I believe I've found an acceptable solution. What it does is makes you an undercover Turk. Being undercover gives you access to all of our data, anything you want, since you'll have access to all our files and the libraries through your ID, but it means only the Turks I've chosen to introduce to you will even know about your existence as one of us. Until or unless _I_ 'call you back to work'—which I won't because that's not the point of this—you can't be called in by anyone else because they don't know about you. On the other hand, if push comes to shove and you have to act to protect civilians, you have full Turk authority."

Izumi's brows rose at the words, but her attention stayed on the children, hands beckoning them forward. "And you can get away with this _why_?"

"To track or arrange a sting for various criminal markets. We have—issues with human traffickers right now, but other kinds of terrorist factions and goods runners are becoming a problem. We'll be setting up more than one sting by default because of where certain groups' or individuals' interests lie, but there's a good chance you and the children will end up being targets. With your skills and us watching out for you, it's unlikely things will progress beyond an attempt, but it will let us shut them down," the man explained.

Her eyes moved to him sharply as she almost growled, "You just took one of them _out_ of the slave trade, and you'll risk putting them back into it?"

"You wouldn't let that happen, would you?" Tseng asked with a raised brow. She blinked then scowled, but he said, "You can't tell me you couldn't mop the floor with a couple dozen _ordinary_ assailants when you went up against a SOLDIER First Class on _equal_ terms for about forty-five minutes, without Mako enhancements _and while_ you're missing half your internal organs, and have already mostly recovered in less than two days."

Izumi's glare intensified and she opened her mouth again, only to feel a hand in hers. She looked down at the eight-year-old girl named Naomi, who said, "I want to stop people like the ones who hurt me. You're really strong, so it'll be way safer with you than to stay on my own, and the Turks—they don't do things half-way. When they found the slavers with us, they didn't just kill the slavers, they took everything from there to track all the rest they could, and blew the base up."

When the woman blinked at her in surprise, the boy moved forward to take her other hand and said, "No one ever—worried about me before. You—really will keep us safe and stop the bad guys, right?"

Before she could answer, a cheerful voice at the door asked, "So, what did you need us for, Tseng?" The others all looked up to see Zack and Balto in the doorway, with Kamil behind them as he shut the door to the room.

Tseng turned back to Izumi and asked, "So, what will you do, Mrs. Curtis?"

She gazed between the two children for a minute before she blinked in surprise and looked up at him with a sudden realization. "...You're...not handling things the way I usually see them handled. Why?"

"Turks are family," the Wutain answered. "Even if you're undercover and most of them won't know about you, for those of us who do, you're one of us and we won't carelessly risk the safety of one of our family members. I've found SOLDIERs aren't much different, so by giving you 'family' with both groups, you'll become family to all of the strongest people in the city. Your family is our family." He nodded to the two kids.

"Oh, isn't that really funny, Balto?" Zack asked in amusement. "I mean, Tseng couldn't have set that up better if he'd _tried_."

"That's certainly true," Balto agreed. When the others in the room looked at the pair in mild confusion, he went on in amusement, "Tseng, just like Zack and I are relatives, the Curtis family are relatives to us. Even for me, 'Mrs. Curtis' would have been my aunt, and if those two kids are 'hers', they're my cousins. It's the same with Zack. And—one of the Curtis sons and his half-Wutain wife vanished about a year ago."

The amusement in the room became palpable for a minute before Kamil said from behind Balto, "In which case, this would be one of those things Eden was finding were just conveniently being arranged for him, but for Mrs. Curtis instead. It would probably be foolish not to take such a ready-made cover. I say play it for all it's worth."

Zack looked back at the man and said, "Yeah, actually, even if the family doesn't 'know' her, they'll probably take her as one of their long-lost relatives." His gaze moved to Tseng and said, "If Mrs. Curtis agrees, she'll have all of Gongaga covering for her, and if we mention her to them, some of the Curtises or other relatives might even come visit her, just like family would."

With a nod, Tseng said, "The better the cover, the better the protection." His gaze moved to Izumi as he said, "All we need is your answer, what you want your store-front to be, and where in Midgar you want it."

Her eyes went to the two kids for a moment, then she said, "If they're willing to participate in this—which they've said they are—then it would have to be in the Slums in whichever Sector the most trafficking runs through. (2) I had been thinking of what I would want to do on my own terms, and I think I'd like to set up a sort of...day school with basic academics in the morning and physical education—self defense especially—in the afternoon. I'll be training these two outside that, but part of my plan would include time in the afternoon to work on crafts they can sell to make money so I can educate them without them having to pay for it. I already know most of those in the Slums can't afford an education, so I have to compensate somehow for my time."

After a silence, Tseng asked, "Is that agreement?"

There was a pause, then Izumi said, "Yes, it's agreement."

He smiled and said, "Then I would suggest you apply to Rufus Shinra for funds to run a small school for Slum children. This is a project I believe he'll support, at the very least for a trial run, and if he likes the results—you may not be the only one running a school like that in the Slums."

For a long moment, the older woman gazed at him—then sighed and muttered with a small, fond smile, "I really, really hate it when Eden is right..."

The words produced several snorts of amusement.

 **Notes:**

(1) The two kids are OC's, and their only development will come from Izumi's perspective. I was picking their names deliberately to be able to pass for actual names in either culture. Naomi is actually fairly common as it was used in the Bible (the story of Ruth and Naomi), and Ken is just a common European/American name, making them both valid in Shinra lands, too. Both of them have a Japanese/Wutain variant which would have only slightly altered the pronunciation of Naomi's name.

(2) As much as Izumi hates a system of government like this, she realizes she can't fight a world power like Shinra from the outside (she's FAR from stupid), and she hates the slave trade more (I can't see any reality where a woman like her would agree with or accept it). Also, she had previously been threatened or pressured into 'assisting' the Amestrian government without getting back a fraction of what Tseng is offering her in return for her help. This is the best chance she has to live a mostly normal life, and to stop at least one thing she doesn't like at the same time. There was no better option for her besides possibly just tossing aside any sense of humanity and desire to make the world a little safer. I guess I could have done that, but it would have...made her place here rather pointless, and I don't think she's currently in a frame of mind where she would be okay with that. She needs something to use to 'regain' the strength she feels she lost when fighting—and ultimately losing to—Sora.


	28. 25-Cetra Heritage

Cetra Heritage

For part of the previous day and much of the morning that day, Genesis had been instructing Roy on how to fight with a sword. The man was un-enhanced, but he was in good shape and had some sword training from his previous military, though not the required degree SOLDIER would need. They had done a little work with Materia as well, but it had taken next to no time for Roy to get the hang of that (he was a great deal like Eden in that regard), so they had gone back to the absolutely necessary swordplay. And the man had improved by leaps and bounds.

When they'd first walked into the training room to work on Roy's skills, there had been sneers and jeers and most of the SOLDIERs had been wondering why the Commander was wasting his time, especially when they realized Roy was essentially a raw beginner. Over just the course of the first evening, the sneering and jeering had turned to shock and awe as the man absorbed information at a pace so rapid his skill increased with nearly every move he made. His tactical ability also showed the longer he and Genesis sparred, because he actually trumped the Commander in that regard, and it was only the need for his physical skills to catch up to what his mind knew. To add his skill with magic to that made him formidable indeed, and the Commander's interest in him became self-explanatory.

While the black haired man hadn't gotten his first Mako injection yet, he was wearing the uniform for Third Classes, as Genesis had told him bluntly to wear it unless he was sleeping because SOLDIER and the Turks were first responders and always had to be ready to go on a moment's notice. For someone un-enhanced, it was pretty much taboo for him to be dressed like that, though when the other SOLDIERs found out in the morning that he was going to be given the injections the next day, they were less upset about it. Meanwhile, Roy was actually having more fun than he'd thought he would learning the kind of swordplay Genesis and the SOLDIERs used—though Genesis' style was unique to him, it still had traits in common with the general style.

Finally, as it was nearing noon, the red haired man stopped their sparring session and said, "With how much you've improved in just this amount of time, I think we can afford to take a break for awhile. Let's head out and see some sights in the city while we grab a nice lunch and cool down." The words produced a few amused snorts from nearby SOLDIERs and a raised brow from Roy, causing Genesis to ask blankly, "What? Did I say something funny?"

"You sounded like you were asking me on a lunch _date_ , not a lunch _break_ ," Roy answered, looking amused. He was starting to think Genesis didn't normally think all that much before talking.

At first, Genesis drew a blank, but then he asked genially with a smirk, "And what if I _was_?" All the others near them stopped to stare at the red haired man in shock.

Roy, on the other hand, raised his brow again and said, "You're certainly attractive enough, but unfortunately, I both don't swing that way and have a partner already."

"Aw..." Genesis pouted, causing several of the men to give him alienated looks.

A moment later, the two men laughed and Roy commented, "You really _are_ a consummate actor, Genesis. You could seriously make yourself a career of it."

"Of course," the red haired man agreed with a chuckle. "Sorry about the mis-phrase, though. There's someone you need to visit, so I was thinking we'd do that while we were in town, and to me, there's a difference between a 'lunch' and a 'nice lunch'—a difference which isn't in the nature of the company, it's in the quality of the food. Anyway, we should get changed before we head out, so let's go."

As the two were going to leave the room, one of the other men asked in confusion, "So, wait—Commander, you're not—gay are you?"

Genesis just smirked and replied, "That's actually none of your business." With that, he flounced from the room in true peacock form as Roy followed him while chuckling, most of the men looking puzzled and uncertain.

It didn't take them long to return to their new apartment, where they both took a quick turn in the shower before dressing in fresh clothes. Once they were ready, they headed out of the building and into Sector 8 to eat, then returned to the train station and ended up in the Sector 7 Slums. At that point, Genesis pulled out his PHS and called Shears to ask for directions to Aeris' place to introduce her to the friend of Eden's who had decided to go for SOLDIER.

Once he had the answer, they started heading towards Sector 6, and around the time when they reached the old playground there, a tired-looking Felicia met them. "So someone chose SOLDIER after all," she commented, motioning them to follow her.

As they headed towards Sector 5 from there, Genesis agreed, "Yes, one did. How are you doing?"

"I'm fine, just really tired," she answered in mild amusement.

"Is that just from overwork, or something more serious?" the red haired man asked in faint worry, his eyes drifting over her gloved right hand.

She gave her head a shake and said, "Mostly general exhaustion with all the plans we've had to work out and start up in short order. I was _shocked_ when the Weapons Development Department asked us to take a project, too. Between the few things we've taken from Reeve, the things we've taken from Rufus, a couple watches from the Turks, and that—plus what we have in Wutai—we're pretty much at our limit for what we can do." With a shrug, she said, "Now, introductions, if you would, Commander."

"Just Genesis, please," he replied in mild amusement. "This is Roy Mustang, from Eden's hometown, and the only one who intends to join SOLDIER. He's also got Mage skills like mine and Eden's." His gaze moved to Roy, who had been following the discussion with curious interest, then the red haired man indicated the woman with a tip of his head as he said, "This is Felicia Pereld, the leader—or Chief—of Gaia's Refuge and our escort to meet the young lady Eden told us about—the young lady in question is one of the ones Gaia's Refuge is watching over."

"Your skills must be formidable," Roy commented to her, and she inclined her head. "It's good to meet the one behind the name after your people helped us out a few times when we first got here."

"They did that of their own accord, but I certainly don't mind, and I'm glad they did it," she answered. "Life in the Slums is hard—we know that as well as anyone here. I'm still—trying to adapt to allowing Shin-Ra people near Shin-Ra's own targets, though, but because Aeris asked to see you..."

Roy's brows rose at that and his gaze moved to Genesis. "About that...We're going to see one of 'Shinra's targets', and that's safe?"

"It's safe," Genesis answered in amusement. "Hojo is the one who wants her, and I've—personally been at his mercy before. I'd never willingly do it to someone else."

"She's putting a lot of faith in me, then, isn't she?" the black haired man asked.

Genesis paused, then pulled one of his Summon Materia off his Wizard Bracelet and stopped to grab Roy's arm where his bracer was. "Put that on in one of your free slots and—because Eden can do this—ask him how he defines you. Give us the answer he gives you." Felicia stopped to stare at the two men in surprise.

Since he was wearing his uniform black leather gloves, Roy knew he could safely take the red Materia and slot it. "What are the red ones?" he asked as he did.

"Summons—sentient beings," Genesis answered.

Roy's eyes shot to him warily for a moment, then he nodded and closed his eyes to do as requested. It didn't take him long to find the 'door' to access the Materia and 'open' it enough to sense the presence in the orb. He had been thinking he would feel agony, regret, sorrow, anger, but all he felt was calm, warmth, and curiosity.

 _:What do you need, Sentinel?:_ the being's voice came to him. Answering was something he didn't know how to do, so the being added, _:Ah. You need only direct the thoughts you wish me to respond to in my direction. I 'hear' much of what you actively think, but often respond only to direct inquiries or participate in an active discussion.:_

With the words—and advice—Roy directed to the being, _:I wasn't told what 'kind' of Summon you are, so could you tell me? Also, are you actually okay being locked in an object and required to do your summoner's bidding?:_

 _:I am known as an Alexander—a being of light and a protector. At one time, an odd few individuals 'summoned' us in the way you know, but we are now only attached to Materia—to Minerva's energy in solid form—because she asked if we were willing to act as a bond between her and her little children. We are aware enough of our surroundings to know what circumstances are involved, and to choose to abide the terms of our summoning or not. As odd as it may seem to you, we are not slaves, and are able to simply choose not to appear, or to take a different action than the one requested upon our summoning,:_ the being explained.

Roy felt a lot better knowing that once he'd assessed it, so thanked the being and opened his eyes to say, "He called me 'Sentinel'. What's a Sentinel, exactly, since you've mentioned the term before?"

"They're a branch of the Cetra, also known as the Ancients, which is the same race as Aeris—well, she's half Cetra. She also qualifies as a Cetra Healer, and you and me—and Eden—are Sentinels, who protect the Healers. And you're that _without_ even having a Mako infusion," Genesis answered in a dry tone. "It's not in you to willingly hurt her, and I think she knows that, because the Lifestream knows you're also a Cetra."

"...I see," Roy answered, then removed Alexander's Materia from his bracer and offered it back to Genesis, who took it and returned it to its place on his own.

"So are all the people from Eden's home Sentinels?" Felicia suddenly frowned in puzzlement.

"I wouldn't know," Genesis replied, shaking his head.

"I don't, either, but why?" Roy asked.

She looked into the distance for a minute before saying, "Eden got as far as assessing that everyone who came from Amestris probably has Cetra blood, otherwise they wouldn't be able to survive and function here due to the sheer strength of the Lifestream energy. Which type of Cetra, though, is unknown. Maybe they're also all Sentinels, but...I would think that would be—odd."

"Why would you think that?" Genesis asked in surprise.

Both men followed when she began walking again, and she told them, "Because the world doesn't just need combat personnel, it needs people to _fix_ it, which is the job of the Healers, so for only Sentinels to have arrived here would only go so far towards helping us. Though, there are also— _issues_ with the safety of Healers here..."

"...That's true. You have a couple good points," Genesis agreed. "We'll have to see if there's a way to find out."

"We will," she agreed.

They soon came to the Sector 5 Church, where Felicia went to the doors and pushed them open, revealing the flowers, the girl in blue and white beside them, and a middle-aged man sitting on a pew near the former two.

"You're back," the man said as the girl turned to give Felicia a grin and wave before turning back to the flowers.

The older woman strode down the aisle with the two SOLDIERs following her, until she was standing beside the pew where the man sat. "Aeris, meet Commander Genesis Rhapsodos and Third Class Roy Mustang," Felicia said, then moved to sit in the pew across from the man. "All quiet, Shears?"

"Yup," the man agreed. "Except for Carbuncle apparently still not being finished exploring days later, so it pops in every now and then."

She looked amused as the girl at the edge of the flower bed set down a watering can and rose, brushing dirt off her knees and hands as she did. She released a happy breath and turned to face the two new men curiously. She then focused on Genesis as she said, "I'm Aeris Gainsborough. Eden said you're trustworthy and Tseng didn't say otherwise, so I'm happy to meet you."

Genesis looked amused by the words as he answered, "I'm glad they think so highly of me. It's a pleasure, Miss Gainsborough."

"Likewise," Roy answered, gaze curious. "I was told you wanted to meet me if I chose SOLDIER?"

"Yes," the girl agreed, stepping out of the soil and onto the edge of the floor. "Eden said Commander Rhapsodos is a 'Sentinel', who are a branch of the Cetra, or the most ancient sentient race on the Planet. But those of you from Eden's home, with or without the Cetra blood, are going to have a reaction to the Mako—liquid Lifestream—which will make you...basically, which will make you like me."

"Genesis had me ask one of his Summons what I am to them, and the Summon said I'm a Sentinel," Roy told her, making her blink. "He then said you're a Healer, but he didn't specify the differences other than a Sentinel's purpose being to protect the Healers. What does it mean to be 'like' you? Just hearing the 'voice' of the Lifestream?"

Aeris walked up to where the men stood, peering at Roy curiously for a minute before saying, "It's more complicated. It will definitely do that, and you'll need a little help learning to deal with the influx of new information. A lot of what you'll hear from the Lifestream is remains of people's individual souls as they rejoin the whole, so it's inane things like 'where's my cat?' or 'I have to find my keys!' or 'I'm going to be late for work!' You'll also hear the Planet screaming in pain, or sense the presence of a Summon nearby. The most important part is when the consciousness of the Lifestream tries to talk with you—Minerva gives as much information as she can, but she doesn't understand the world the same way we do, so sometimes it's hard for her to transmit and we have to interpret it.

"But the Lifestream does more than that. I'm a Healer—plants, animals, people, the Planet..." Aeris paused and turned back to the flowers growing in the hole in the floor of the Church. "Those flowers...grow because of me, because I'm a Healer and my energy is trying so hard to bring the Lifestream energy back to this area so it can heal it. Sentinels can do some healing, but nothing like this. With you getting Mako infusions, though, you're going to suddenly start doing these sorts of things, too, because your Cetra blood combined with the Mako will act like the same kind of beacon for Lifestream energy as my blood and energy does. You may want to keep a lot of potted plants in your room for the energy to transfer to so it doesn't do things like grow apple seeds people threw in a garbage can several floors down from you into trees overnight."

Roy rubbed the back of his neck as he thought about what she was saying, then gave a bit of a nod and said, "I'm probably going to forget to water them."

She faced him in amusement as she said, "Your Cetra blood won't let you do that once you've gotten your infusions because you'll feel the plants begging for water—it's a lot like kids begging for lunch or supper because they're hungry."

With a startled blink, the man admitted, "If that's what's going to happen, it'll be hard to forget. Will it affect my ability to be a SOLDIER—a killer?"

"No, it shouldn't. Well, unless you go on a massive killing spree and the Lifestream tells me to stop you before you trigger Chaos. We've never been 'unable' to kill, even as the Healers, we just have a strong dislike for doing so." While Aeris sounded amused, Felicia and Shears both sighed and Genesis gave her a curious look. "Yes, I know about Chaos," she told the red haired man with an amused look. She then looked past Genesis and Roy and asked, "Do you know that Turk?"

Shears and Felicia were immediately on their feet and tense as they all turned to look—only to see Kariya. "Howdy," Kariya grinned with a little wave, then pulled a cigarette from his pocket to light and stick in his mouth. As Aeris eyed the object warily, he said, "Don't worry, Sweetheart, I'll keep it away from your flowers."

With a startled blink, she tipped her head to the side and asked, "Why do you care, exactly? Turks usually don't unless they're my self-proclaimed protectors."

Kariya gave a dismissing wave and said, "First, I know damned well Tseng will have my hide if anything happens to you, and second, I'm not actually on duty right now, so I don't really care anyway. I had planned to visit with my son for awhile while both my daughters are busy, but the temptation to see what he was up to with a new Third was just too much." He then raised a brow at Genesis and said, "And _you_ seriously need to work on your stealth detection."

Genesis turned faintly red and retorted, "I'm not a Turk and never wanted to be one, thanks—I'm perfectly happy announcing my presence to everyone. Besides, if Felicia and Shears missed you, too, you're _way_ better than even most of the Turks, since they almost _all_ get caught by this pair."

"That's certainly true," a new voice said in an amused tone from the door, and everyone looked to see black haired Ruluf there. Shears groaned and held a hand over his face, Felicia heaved a heart-felt sigh, and Aeris smiled and waved, producing bemused expressions from both Genesis and Roy.

"Hello, Ruluf. What brings you here today?" the brown haired girl asked cheerfully.

"Just a warning to stay out of Sector Six for the next couple of weeks, because there will be too many Shinra personnel around for them _all_ to conveniently 'miss' you," the younger Turk told her, his gaze going to Kariya questioningly.

"...Self-proclaimed protectors..." Roy blinked. Both Aeris and Ruluf smiled wryly at that. The new SOLDIER then looked at Genesis to ask, "Did I understand the first Turk right when he—basically said you're his son?"

"You did and yes, Kariya is my father," Genesis agreed. "And Ruluf, he _won't_ turn Aeris over to Hojo."

The younger Turk paused thoughtfully, then nodded and admitted, "I'd actually be a bit worried about his sanity if he would after—recent events. But why are you here, anyway? SOLDIERs never struck me as the type to be in this neck of the woods unless it was to handle a monster infestation."

Aeris held her hand up and said, "That's my doing. Mr. Mustang is going to have a very interesting reaction to the Mako infusions, and I need to be able to help him adapt to it. It was something I specifically asked Eden and Shears for, but..." Aeris began pouting as she said, "I hoped Eden would be the one to bring him here so I could visit with one of my brothers at least."

"Eden got himself months' worth of disciplinary duty a couple days ago, so if you want to see him, you have to ask Tseng to make an allowance," Ruluf answered dryly. "Do you want me to ask him about that so he can plan it in somewhere?"

"Oh...How did Eden get that? He's usually really well-behaved," the fifteen-year-old asked curiously.

"He's been better behaved here than he ever was with me," Roy snorted. "But we're probably partly the cause of it if he actually did something 'abnormal' based on what you lot have seen of him."

"I don't know the details, unfortunately," Ruluf shrugged.

"Neither do I—I haven't even _been here_ for a lot of the last few days," Kariya said when they all looked at him like he had all the answers. "This is the first I've heard of his disciplinary duty, too."

"Oh, then I guess you'll have to ask them both to make time for me," Aeris said with a small pout, then a smile. "Thank you, Ruluf."

"Well, Genesis, have you got some visiting time?" Kariya asked of the red haired SOLDIER in amusement.

Rather than answer right away, Genesis looked at Roy and Aeris and asked, "Was that all you needed to discuss, or have you two still got things to talk about?"

"A few things," Aeris answered with another smile. "Go ahead and visit with your father while we talk more."

At the words, the red haired man nodded and turned to stride over to his father, and Kariya gave a nod before leading the way out past Ruluf—who rubbed the back of his head and muttered, "That one is still mind-boggling..."

Shears snorted and said, "What's mind-boggling is that you're not trying to turn Aeris over to Hojo."

"We're a lot of things, but stupid isn't one of them," the younger man shrugged, then stretched his arms upward to loosen the tension in his body. When he lowered his hands again, he pulled out his PHS to check the time, then told the others, "Well, I delivered my message and got one in reply, so I guess I'd better head back to HQ to report in. I'm already running late and Tseng will worry if I don't get back soon." With a little wave, he also walked out of the building.

Felicia and Shears traded put-upon looks, then returned to their seats as Aeris beckoned Roy over to the flowers, where he sat on the edge of the broken Church floor and ran his fingers over the soil there.

"Before you get started, Reeve had a question for you, Aeris," Felicia suddenly said to the girl.

"So exactly who is Reeve, and why do you want to ask me something on his behalf?" Aeris asked curiously.

"He's the head of the Urban Development Department and Shin-Ra's non-weapons engineer," the woman replied. "He was curious about a few functions of Mako, and I told him I'd do some research and check with a few of my sources to see if I could give him a basic answer. The question I need your help to answer was whether or not the Reactors could return Mako to the Lifestream by reversing the flow of them."

After blinking in surprise, the younger brown haired girl shook her head. "No, it wouldn't. 'Lifestream' is energy, but 'Mako' is a liquid you can touch, so it can't be returned so easily. He'd have better luck turning the Mako into steam and giving it a vent so it can dissipate back into the Lifestream like pyreflies. If that's possible, I don't know, but the problem is making it into an energy the Lifestream can reabsorb. It can't 'just' re-absorb Mako—that's why natural Mako springs exist."

"Okay, I'll let him know," the older woman nodded.

"That's fine," Aeris agreed, then turned her attention back to Roy. "Now, because I won't be there when you get the infusions, you need to have a way to keep some control of the voice, which is more like many voices, of the Lifestream when you start hearing them. It'll be hard at first, but I found one of the best methods is to think of it a lot like being on a crowded street and making most of it background noise unless you hear something that's useful and valuable," the girl told him quietly.

"That sounds reasonable. I'll see tomorrow how putting it into practice goes," Roy answered her, gaze intent to show his attentiveness.

"The other thing you'll have to get used to—and never really gets much easier to really handle—is that...You'll feel people return to the Lifestream."

"...I'll what?"

"When people die, you'll feel their souls return to the Lifestream, and you'll know in that moment a little about their death. It might help you track the one who killed them if it was a murder, but it's not usually specific enough for that. But there's a certain pain that comes from feeling them return, especially the children, and even though I've been feeling it since I was born, the sensation has never changed, become easier...It's only become harder if it was someone I knew personally, like my birth mother."

"I see. Thank you for warning me about that—because I'll hazard a guess and say that will be one of the first things I'll experience when the time comes. Without warning, that alone would have been hard to deal with."

"Of course. That's why you're here. And it's fun to be a teacher!" the girl answered him with a smile. "Oh, and you'll probably want plant seeds—lots of them—nearby tomorrow to be safe!" So the discussion continued while they waited for Genesis to return.

As much as Roy worried about how many people in Shinra apparently knew the girl, which risked her safety, he found he had to smile back. She was very good at wiggling her way into people's hearts, and he already saw her something like a daughter. Shinra would have Hell to pay if any of them hurt her, especially since it looked like all her 'protectors' were some of the most powerful people in Shinra. Money meant nothing if the peons wouldn't cooperate anymore, and to him, it wasn't a far cry for this girl to be the trigger to turn the peons away from their masters. He knew he and Eden would be a few of the first to turn.


	29. 26-Dire Situation

Dire Situation

In the end, Eden worked right through the next two days on the storage floor, and had managed to finish organizing them all by the time Reno interrupted him for supper on the second day. His body hurt something awful, and he'd discovered some muscles he hadn't known he'd had—only because they now ached more than he'd thought possible. He'd also managed to trip or drop things several times, which actually began to worry Reno, because he was doing it when he wasn't tired as much as when he was. The room with the engineering parts had been the worst because most of the differences were very subtle and he'd had to ask Reno to ask Tseng how he was supposed to label those items in that room. Someone had turned up from Reeve's department to go over the measurement sizes with him—and also thanked him profusely for organizing everything for them.

Once the two Turks had stopped by Eden's apartment so he could change and had eaten supper in the cafeteria, the red haired man escorted him to Reeve's office. There, Winry and a star-struck Shalua who was practically worshiping the blond fifteen-year-old were waiting to outfit him with his new, temporary leg. Once he'd tried it on (it was only slightly large on him by then), the blond girl told him how to extend or shorten it for the next two weeks or so, and gave him a small tin of oil for his joints—he'd need it more with the temporary leg than he had with his stable limbs. He also remembered to tell her about the dress at Mrs. Gainsborough's which she'd have to get fitted, and told her she'd be able to ask Al and Mei to show her the way.

Once they were done there, Reno showed him to Tseng's office, where that time, he was motioned to close the door when he stepped inside. Reno left to do his own thing, and Tseng and Eden were the last Turks still in the Turks' offices other than whoever was monitoring the cameras. When the blond sat down, he was rubbing his arms because they hurt easily as much as—if not more than—his one flesh leg. He'd also acquired some bruises, and one of those was on his face, so it caught Tseng's eye.

"You look tired," the Wutain commented.

"I feel tired," Eden replied with a half-hearted glare. "I'm almost ready to fall asleep sitting up. Is it really necessary for me to do every storage room in the whole building?"

"Yes, Eden, it is. I wasn't joking when I gave you that instruction, and I don't back down on my word easily," Tseng replied. He then took out a stack of folders and pushed them over to Eden. "Those are the same mission data files you had been given a few days ago. While it wasn't wrong of you to assume what you did because I had never told you where you were supposed to stop—at merely data compilation—there is a legitimate reason why we _don't_ do more so early on a mission. In those files is the original data you had, and the new data I was still waiting for has been added to it. Reassess them all with the new data included—just do it in your head, not in written form—and tell me your impressions."

Slowly, the blond Turk picked up the first folder and opened it to scan the new data—only to find that the new data had completely changed how he'd originally assessed the case. He set it aside and went on to the next, and the next, and the next—all the way through the stack. Of them, two generated the same result he'd originally thought it would be, while the other dozen or so had all completely changed. Finally, with a deep sigh, he dropped the last folder onto the stack of ones he'd gone through, rubbing his head like it hurt.

"And you couldn't just _tell_ me that nine times out of ten, the conclusions I'd drawn would have been wrong—were wrong?" Eden asked, feeling even more tired.

"Would you have believed me without the evidence?" Tseng asked shrewdly. "What you did would have caused us more work than using the gather-then-assess method. I should have known better because nearly every Turk makes this mistake, even when they're given proper instructions, and they nearly _all_ have to see the proof to accept it. Even I did the first time I was assigned to this task."

"...I should have known better..."

"How? You were in a direct combat position before, not an investigative one, and this is your first actual experience dealing with our pre-mission paperwork."

The words brought a faint smile to Eden's face before he gave a small nod and asked, "So, what else do we need to talk about today?"

Tseng sat back for a minute, his gaze thoughtful. Finally, he asked, "How different are your homeworld and the Planet? Did you adapt so well to being here because they're so much alike, or is there actually a chance they exchange people fairly frequently?"

Shaking his head, the blond teen answered, "Other than a few things, like the existence of humans and some regular animals, and a few geological functions, they're as different as night and day. As for my adapting so well, I had Minerva's help with that, and my experience as a traveler for the last five years. Why?"

"I can understand you and your fellow Amestrians knowing about the arrays because that's a function of your world and society, but then how could Genesis or those criminals in Wutai know them?"

"I'm not entirely sure of the details, but I know the Materia operate on the same arrays, meaning those arrays are _also_ functions of _this_ world. The details may have been forgotten, but that doesn't mean people can't—glean knowledge from a few very highly skilled people repeatedly placing a huge amount of focus on the topic, something which previously never happened."

"What?" Tseng asked, his brow furrowing in puzzlement.

"...It's like this," the blond Turk answered with a sigh. "Physical things, like books or teachers, aren't the only ways knowledge transmits between people. The Lifestream is a kind of 'universal consciousness' which causes things some people learn or think to transfer to others by the information being imprinted in their minds without their say. There was a study done to test the theory. (1) From what I can tell, there are two ways it works. Either many of a sentient or semi-sentient race know something, so by default, it imprints in the majority of the rest, or a few people with very strong wills know something, so their knowledge imprints in a few people who are highly susceptible to it. There is the chance that because Genesis and I are both highly focused on the arrays, people susceptible to that knowledge—like those criminals—got it through that transference. And any number of people who are also susceptible could have gotten it to varying degrees as well."

After a long moment of silence, Tseng asked, "And what do you propose we do with them to keep them from destroying society?"

Giving his head a small shake, Eden answered quietly, "It's more likely they'll go insane from a huge influx of data they really know nothing about than that they'll destroy anything, especially with alchemy locked down around Reactors. In other words, they're more likely to kill themselves than to destroy society. I don't know about handling them either way beyond finding and keeping track of them, though."

The Wutain was quiet for a minute before nodding and saying, "Directly, I don't think we should do any such thing, otherwise we'd alert Hojo to the existence of a large number of people with a trait he may want to experiment with. It's possible I could commission Gaia's Refuge to take care of them on the premise that _some_ one needs to keep track of them, but it's not actually our business. Also, handing it off would mean we could devote more of our own resources to things like tracking down Fuhito."

"That's certainly one way to play it," Eden agreed. "But damn, Fuhito's a slippery bugger. I've never known a human _that_ good at getting away from hunters like the Turks. Not to mention, who gets away from eight Summons when they're all attacking at once?"

"Good question," Tseng agreed. "Does his ability to slip away have something to do with the shadow you mentioned he had attached to him?"

"...I don't know," the blond Turk sighed. "Well, yes, I do—most of it is his natural ability as a tactician, because he still managed to get away from me in Corel, but he definitely didn't have a shadow then, so all the 'shadow' does is keep him alive to escape if he makes a tactical error. All the rest of the time, he's doing it himself."

"And what is the shadow? I know you said you didn't know, but you must have some kind of suspicion."

"Do you have more data on it? I mean, I know what I put in my report, but I didn't have a clear view."

"Felicia told me to ask Crescent Unit Captain Inagi because he had the best view, and he described it as something inky black and like a solid wisp of shadow. He called it a demon, for that matter."

"...I think it's—you know, the two options which come to my mind are that it's either a fragment of the 'Gate' we Amestrians came through or it's some kind of homunculus. Of course, it could also be something else I haven't thought of yet."

"...A fragment of what or a what?"

"The Gate has—some weird, black, shadowy hands that grab you and drag you in, push knowledge into you, and toss you back out. A homunculus is a created being which usually is 'shadow-ish' in its natural form and which can look like a human, is super-powered, and has its own soul."

"How do we tell the latter apart from the population?"

"You don't without forcing them to show their true power or form. All the ones I met had a fully human form with the ability to tap into their basic form as a homunculus, but they were definitely as sentient as any human. Normally, I'd say it wouldn't be possible for a human to suddenly have one attached to them, but...With the reintroduction of alchemy to the Planet and my experience with a very powerful homunculus creating weaker ones by embedding them in humans...It's actually possible. In terms of power, a homunculus is along the lines of a being like Jenova, and if an Omega could get here independently, any world which has access to an Alchemist's Gate could have random homunculi appearances because some reside in the space around the Gate. If it's true one is working with Fuhito, it's going to take an equally powerful being or everything we have to take him out, assuming we make sure he can't slip away again. Of course, most of that is also true of him having part of the Gate itself attached to him."

"...So are we dealing with Fuhito or with—either other option rather than him?" Tseng asked apprehensively.

"That depends on how well Fuhito and 'it' get along, and which one it actually is. If it's a homunculus and Fuhito took it in willingly, both of them are participating equally in what they're doing, which is the more likely option by how little Fuhito's behavior has changed. If it's a fragment of the Gate, we have no idea what knowledge it has or is giving him, but that's really all it does besides deflect attacks—gives him some random knowledge. That would mean we're still dealing with him directly."

Pausing for a moment, the teen leaned forward and went on tersely, "Alchemically, that means Fuhito may be getting help from a very long-lived and intelligent being to improve his skills, or getting that data from a Gate fragment. He may not be, but it's likely he's getting at least some pointers from his new—buddy, because the arrays the criminals in Wutai were using were just too primitive for him to create the newest round of Ravens with. A truly functional array would normally easily take two or three _months_ to design, even with _my_ level of knowledge. Now, he has sheer carelessness on his side, and could have possibly created more Ravens in Corel than the ones I fought, but the ones in Wutai had to have been partially alchemically modified to have changed from the ones in Corel in only about three weeks. No matter how I look at it, some part of it had to've come from his new buddy, regardless of 'what' it is."

"I see," Tseng sighed, letting his eyes slide closed for a few moments as he thought. Finally, his eyes opened and he leaned back in his chair as he asked, "What kind of regenerative abilities does a homunculus or a fragment of the Gate have?"

"Er...For both, think of it like trying to kill Sephiroth with a sword. Unless you cut his head off, that's exceptionally difficult. Only, even cutting their head off doesn't guarantee you've beaten or killed it, because I'm pretty sure when I defeated 'Father', the only thing that happened was for him to be weakened and returned to the space around the Gate. If it was a fragment of the Gate, I don't think anything besides it being sent back to the Gate would happen regardless."

"I see...What purpose would either thing have for helping someone like him?"

Eden leaned back and stared up at the ceiling for a minute as he thought. Finally, he said, "Fuhito wants to wipe out all human beings basically just for the sake of wiping them out, so if he is indeed working with and housing a homunculus, it's one which actually wants to destroy life, but for what reason is questionable. If it's part of the Gate, I don't think the hands are sentient enough of their own accord to assess that, so they just—impart data like they were designed to do. The hands aren't 'helping' him in that sense if it's a fragment of the Gate we're dealing with." (2)

For a long moment, Tseng gazed at him in quiet contemplation, then asked, "For what reason would a being more powerful than a human want to destroy us? We have no connection to or impact on them."

"Uh, Tseng...Why did Jenova want to destroy us again?"

The man was silent for a long moment before saying, "If your theory is correct, her reason was a retaliation in an attempt to protect herself, but in the process, she descended into insanity. Are you going to claim insanity in their defense?"

"No, though I'm pretty sure all sentient beings are lesser or greater degrees of insane anyway," Eden answered with a wry grin. "The longer beings like them live, the more likely they seem to be to fall into destructive forms of insanity. Some may have reasons like Jenova's, some may want power for the sake of having it—Hell, some may even just do it for the entertainment value and they see us as nothing more than pawns to play with. What I know is that Minerva doesn't want a being like Fuhito to destroy us, so ultimately, their reasons aren't in _our_ best interests, they're in theirs and _only_ theirs. Minerva herself is probably the only real exception to the trend I'm aware of."

With a nod, the older Turk had to admit, "I suppose you have a point. Knowing the reason would be helpful in predicting their moves if it's a homunculus, but it's not necessary as long as we know the goal. Fuhito has made his goal abundantly clear, and has given us enough indications of how far he'll go to get it, which covers us for both eventualities. With his ability to escape situations he shouldn't be able to, this is actually beginning to worry me and I have a feeling we're going to wind up having to use you as bait for him, and even then, it's a risk I'm hesitant to take with the vendetta he has for you."

"Why?" the teen frowned in puzzlement.

"He may just be able to get away again—and take you with him."

After Tseng's dire words, Eden sighed and met the older Turk's gaze as he said, "It's not the first time, either that I've been targeted or that I've been kidnapped. With my brother around in the armor, it was hard to do but far from impossible, and there were several times I could legitimately have died without that peculiar luck I seem to have. I guess my world's Lifestream liked me too or something, just by how many times I've gotten out of trouble just in the nick of time, before I'd have died. With Fuhito...maybe the only way to trap him and make him die is exactly by using me as bait. Especially if we can let it slip that I have the pieces of Zirconaide—all of the ones not attached to Felicia."

"...Excuse me?" the man asked with a small frown.

"Fuhito had one fragment on him, so I find it hard to believe he didn't know what they were," the blond answered. "Maybe he doesn't know as much as I do, but on the premise of the personality fragment in the shard he had, he probably has the view that the being he would Summon would annihilate humanity. Before I talked to them, that's also exactly what they would have done. If you want him to be so obsessed with me that he actually gets careless enough you can kill him, that would be your best bet—to put everything you can in his face so he's no longer paying attention to anything _but_ me."

"Eden, you're putting yourself in danger to a degree no Turk could understand or accept by saying that," the Wutain informed him.

"Desperate situations call for desperate measures, and Tseng—I'm the one offering, you're not suggesting it," the younger Turk answered evenly. "There's a difference, a huge one. I know what I'm risking, and I don't like it, but Fuhito isn't someone we can keep messing around with—and I _know_ if he made off with me, the Turks and SOLDIER would tear apart the Planet to find me. I'm serious—make him completely obsessed with me. He's a tactician by nature, but that only works because he's cold and calculating. Obsession, especially of the level I want to push him to, will interfere with his tactical ability because he'll start seeing only certain things, the ones he _wants_ to in order to give him the advantage he's looking for. Also..." Eden paused there, not yet sure how to voice what he was thinking.

Tseng's head tipped to the side and he prompted, "Also what?"

Closing his eyes, the blond Turk began, "You know...one of the things Rude talked with me about was how I never let anyone protect me." His eyes opened as he looked up to meet the other Turk's dark eyes. "It's true, too—I never let anyone protect me in the true sense of the words because I don't trust them to do so, even if my mind knows they will. And Tseng, that's a huge hurdle I have to overcome, or there will always be a wedge between me and everyone I know—the Turks, or Genesis, or the kids. By making myself bait for Fuhito, it would force me to trust everyone else to protect me—because I'm sure I won't be able to protect myself as soon as Fuhito focuses so strongly on me. And just to be clear on this, that actually scares me shitless, both having him so obsessed with me and having to rely on others to save me."

Leaning back in his chair to assess the words, the black haired Turk eyed the younger man while he thought about exactly what Eden—and what Edward—was saying. He was beginning to see a trend and to understand exactly what made the younger teen so skilled—he didn't break under pressure, not in the true sense of the words, he rallied his strength, pushed past his fears, and faced it all head-on. It was a trait many Turks had, and even many SOLDIERs had it, but blessed few had the sheer degree of it the slender blond sitting across from him had.

Finally, Tseng relented with a soft sigh and asked, "Are you trying to send me to an early grave, Eden?"

"Not a chance. It's exactly _because_ it's me that you won't take any chances of letting anything go wrong," the younger teen answered. "I'm not entirely sure why I know that, but I—just do."

The words caused a small smile to form on the older's face before he commented, "So your mind trusts me, and us, but your emotions don't. I can see why you'd want to bring them in line with each other. But, _can_ we divert his attention so strongly to you? If he's got some _thing_ showing him how to use alchemy capable of doing what Zirconaide would give him the power to do, would the fragments entice him to you?"

"Yes, I suspect so, because summoning Zirconaide would be a lot easier than trying to learn all the arrays, and he's got his hands full with improving the Ravens."

"If we assume we're going to have to set you up as bait, the things which need to reach Fuhito's ears include your possession of the Zirconaide shards and your ability to use the arrays." As Eden's eyes widened, the man said shrewdly, "You said yourself he's getting help, but we don't know to what extent, and your words left the impression that he was getting only incomplete data. While I could see reasons why the 'being' sharing his body would either want him to learn them or not, as long as it isn't stopping him, I feel he'd want to learn what he can as it would further his goals. If his—visitor—isn't teaching him, or isn't able to, he'd have to look elsewhere.

"By that logic, who do we have who could possibly teach someone alchemy? Mei, Alphonse, Mrs. Curtis, Third Mustang, Genesis, and you. For his purposes, SOLDIERs would be far too hard to capture, and the other three count as civilians so we wouldn't risk them. Also—'it's in a Turk's job description to act as bait periodically,' as Vant said. Right now, like most people, Fuhito probably doesn't know you've been doing any more than modifying Materia the way Genesis does. If he becomes aware you're an expert with the arrays, I daresay he would target the 'weakest' of you, on top of his vendetta. It would also give us longer to act before he does you serious harm—he would want your knowledge and you have to be yourself to give it. I think we could feasibly go through Felicia to leak the information to him, and it would make her aware of the plan indirectly. The more eyes watching out for you, the better."

"Hey, that makes it sound like I'll get snatched when you're not ready!" Eden complained.

Linking his fingers in his lap, Tseng replied shrewdly, "By your track record to date, you probably will, Eden. Which is _also_ why I'm so worried about this whole scenario. If anyone would be able to reach you, particularly without alerting Fuhito, it would be Reno, so that is one option we have, assuming you have faith in him being able to get to you. It doesn't make the whole level of risk and the worry any better."

Eden stared in surprise, then looked away in thought as he thought about the time he'd spent with the older teen. Reno was pretty steady despite his energy, but he had a vicious streak and mostly didn't take things too seriously outside his work. If something triggered his vicious streak or he was working, he was entirely focused and a force to be reckoned with. All of those were points in favor of having him be the one to actually rescue Ed when the time came, and he didn't have any complaints about those points. His only 'issue' of a sort was just how touchy-feely the man had proven he could be, but that was a minor point under the circumstances, and from what he could tell, while Reno was actively working, he kept his mind on said work.

Finally, he looked back at Tseng and said, "I don't have any reason to think he'll be unable, so I can go with that."

"Good. I've already been working on coordinating your schedules because he has to be able to watch you when you're working on storage sorting. Rufus will have to attend a social affair six days from now, and the President decided Sephiroth is to be his guard and escort for it, so that's your first day off guard duty, then every third day thereafter. Your days off will start at noon and end after breakfast the next morning. This will be true unless you're told otherwise for a specific day."

The blond nodded and asked, "Anything else?"

After a silence, the Wutain Turk said, "You _do_ realize if we go through with this, you're going to need to have a tracker on you like the one we gave to Genesis, yes?"

"I gathered that. Whether Fuhito will or won't guess is a question."

"We'll assume he'll look. His finding any would depend on where we put them, and he'd have to take the time to search for them, which would be longer again before he'd do you serious harm. Since we have as long to prepare as we do, we feasibly have time to hide them all on you so _you_ don't even know where they are. Of course, I can think of an exception to the time factor, but I'm hoping he won't think of it since the usual track record is that no one ever does. The only way to circumvent it would be to sew the tracker into your body somewhere. Going through with that would require Hojo's assistance, and I wouldn't be inclined to believe he'd do _only_ that to you."

"Neither would I. The next question then would be—how strongly do you believe I would actually need to have the tracker sewn into my body? Enough to risk Hojo, or was that really just you thinking out loud about the worst case scenario?"

"...I won't have a clear answer until we start getting some reports back about his behavior from Felicia's agent, but as things stand, I don't believe Hojo is worth risking."

"Okay, then you're probably going to be borrowing my clothes over the next few days while I'm with Rufus, right?"

"Whatever you don't take with you. When you get the chance to switch everything off, I want you to do a complete switch so all the items we couldn't put trackers in will be left for us to work with and everything on you then has trackers. For now, that's the extent of what we can do for you, and otherwise—we'll start preparing. Oh, you can read this file so you know Mrs. Curtis' history, then you can go get some rest so you can return to guard duty tomorrow."

"Right," Eden agreed, taking the folder Tseng offered to him, quickly reading it (the background she'd been given was certainly a unique one), then handing it back so he could rise and head out. He was exhausted and dragging his feet—and looking forward to being back on guard duty just so his muscles would be able to get a break.

 **Notes:**

(1) There's a much more detailed version of this in chapter 1 of Fates of Worlds, when Eden and Genesis are talking in Genesis' office and the end-chapter notes, for anyone who really wants to know more.

(2) Keep in mind that these are just Ed's best guesses, not necessarily what they're actually dealing with.


	30. 27-Overview

Overview

The next morning, when Eden walked into the Vice President's office, which Rufus was using despite the title still being unofficial, Sephiroth gave him a nod and almost sprinted from the room. Eden couldn't hold back a small smile as the older blond, who stood at the window and facing him.

The two regarded one another quietly for a minute, then the President's son asked, "So, does this mean you'll be around for awhile now, Eden?"

"I sure hope so," the younger teen replied dryly. "I can't promise things will go as planned because we're starting another operation as of now, but I'm assigned here until further notice, and don't really have to be called away for anything in the meantime."

"Good," the eighteen-year-old said with a faint smile, motioning him to sit. The Turk moved over to the chair across the desk from the older blond and dropped his overnight bag at his feet as Rufus also sat. "I've given one of the factories I had planned for the Slums to Felicia to give Gaia's Refuge a place to turn into a science testing lab, as well as a production facility for the energy source they eventually decide on.

"Reeve has also turned a few of his projects over to her care, one of those his general population watch—they now have a Cait Sith unit for each of their leaders. My _father_ would be suspicious of me having a Cait Sith at this point, so Reeve's office doesn't plan to provide me with such a unit until they manage to finish the project they were working on for you."

After a short pause, he went on quickly, "Ah, also, the redesigns of the Reactors have been progressing well, from all nine here in Midgar to ones as far away as Gongaga and Nibelheim. The one by Corel will now be one of Reeve's new designs completely." Rufus then paused again. "Tell me what all your plans are, Eden."

"Which plans?" the sixteen-year-old asked with a blink.

"The ones which fall under your 'save-the-world crusade'," the older blond replied.

"Well, the Reactor redesigns and Gaia's Refuge's plans have taken care of two of the things I was worried about, and what you're doing here is also helping on one of those by reducing the number of people living in misery," the Turk said. Rufus nodded, so he went on, "I know what you're doing doesn't seem like much, but you really do need to do it, and hopefully help teach society a better way to live in the process. That's a long-term project, though, and will probably take several generations to truly change. Also, it's made harder by the fact that we have to figure out exactly _how_ to change society so the kind of situation we're in now won't be repeated, but that would mean changing the premise of society, and tell me—how many ways can you think of to make true change in a society based on money and greed?"

"There should be many ways, like keeping people employed," Rufus replied.

"That's a great short-term fix, but it only works as long as prices for goods don't increase and people let go of enough of their greed to give everyone work for a decent wage. As long as you've got very wealthy people and very poor people, you're going to have a problem, and not everyone is capable of working, either—no work, no money, no food, clothing, and shelter. Also, as long as there are positions of power some people have over others—most of those tied in to either wealth or brute force—there's going to be a repeat of all the same problems. It's not something that can be fixed with patch jobs and literally takes figuring out a whole new system, which in turn means everyone has to be willing to accept changes like negation of wealth and power. And Rufus, even though I know all that is needed, I have no clue how to _do_ it, and I have doubts about people being _able_ to give up their desire to one-up others, even you."

"Even me?"

"Could you handle being just the same as the child living in the Slums? Could you handle losing your title, your power, your wealth?"

For a long time, Rufus was silent as he assessed the words, then asked shrewdly, "Could _you_ handle losing the power you claim being a Turk gives you?"

With a sigh, Ed leaned back in his seat and stared at the ceiling as he answered, "It would depend on the method, honestly. If you were going to take away my ability to protect people or do my research, I'd have huge issues with that. What system would allow those kinds of things to remain intact while bringing everyone to an equal position, all in a functioning society where everyone could live happily?"

"Eden, by default, _any_ 'society' needs some kind of rules or guidelines, otherwise it would become acceptable for people like Hojo to live in them, to do what makes them happy—torture people." Ed's eyes went back to Rufus in alarm, so the other blond said, "No, there needs to be some form of rules for a 'society' to exist, but by default, that will make anyone inclined to harm others very _un_ happy. Policing forces like the Turks and SOLDIER will still be needed, but not necessarily in the state and format they currently are. As to the rest, I have no more idea currently than _you_ do. What other plans have you got?"

"There's restoring Zirconaide without killing Felicia in the process, something Genesis and I have been slowly working on as we could, both independently and together. We've found some of the key factors in doing what we need to do—most of the key ones, I think—but we need the _time_ to be able to sit down and work on it more thoroughly and steadily, something we just don't have as things stand. Our required work in the Turks and SOLDIER is our biggest obstacle, and we can't actually put those tasks off, either—you still need a guard and SOLDIERs still have to go hunting monsters and terrorists and so on. With what we know of the arrays, we know that how we move, repair, and erase the broken ones has to be done very carefully, and repairing a broken soul isn't easy to do."

"Even though it may not be enough, I could help you gain some of the time you need by having you both act as my guards for a day every now and then. Could anyone else be given the data to work on it in your place?"

"It requires knowledge of the arrays we're using—and people at large just don't have that. With this one, Al saw the arrays and he's got all the same knowledge and skill I have—but he looked at them and said he wouldn't be able to sort it out because it's too complex for him at this point. My view is he could probably do it, but not easily. Teaching anyone else is a no-go, so this one has to stay with Genesis and me—there isn't anyone else who can work on it."

"Very well. Your other plans?"

"One is to return energy to the Lifestream."

"Is that even possible?"

"Apparently, that's what Materia are actually _for_ —they're the Planet's back-up batteries, and grow and reproduce through energy not tied to the Lifestream. People are composed of Lifestream energy, but we also _produce_ an energy in addition to that which is energy that never belonged to the Lifestream. Materia grows by draining that other energy from us, not by pulling on Lifestream energy. Materia won't start to deteriorate until they've been Mastered, then take thousands of years to break down from that point. In the natural cycle of life, that would be more than sufficient for the world to restore its lost energy over time, but the Reactors have taken more than the Lifestream can afford to give in a very short time—by default, that means we need to find a way to return the Materia to the Lifestream much sooner."

"How will that work when we have to take years to Master one Materia shard?"

"Zack can Master one in one to four hours depending on the shard, and do that several times over the course of the day—without it affecting his daytime energy level."

"...First Fair generates so much energy?" At the constipated expression on Rufus' face, Eden had to chuckle.

"He does," the Turk agreed. "And there are probably others like him in the world, just not many. We need to find them so they can help us produce huge numbers of Materia to be returned to the Planet. Of course, for that to be valid, we need a method of breaking them down so they _can_ go back to it, and we don't have that—I need to be able to study the whole system to figure out how, and without time to do so, finding it will be really hard."

"What do you mean, you need to study the whole system? Don't you just need to study the breakdown of Mastered Materia?"

"It happens too slowly to study, Rufus. We don't have six thousand years to watch them and note minute changes which may be indicating deterioration, we have to do this _now_ , in the next few years. That means the only feasible method is to study their formation and the processes they go through in said formation so we can try reversing them. That also takes time, but not nearly as much as observing natural deterioration."

"Eden, all of that is a simple scientific study you could hand to the Science Department, and my father would likely even approve it openly because it would give more energy to the Planet for him to take with his Reactors. It doesn't require your knowledge of the arrays," the older blond answered in a dry tone.

At first, the younger of the pair opened his mouth to protest, then shut his mouth as he recalled Zack saying something similar not long ago. Finally, he said, "I admit, I'm possessive of my work, but you're right and I should hand that off, because it actually _can_ be. The question is, if I give it to the Science Department, will they do right by it without turning it into a sick human experiment? With Hojo still in power there..."

"He's done the experiments he intended to do with Materia already, which didn't involve breaking them back down into raw Lifestream energy. Though, I would let them finish modifying the Reactors and getting the new ones partly built before offering that to the department. A couple weeks more should be sufficient time."

The blond sixteen-year-old paused to ponder the words thoughtfully, then slowly nodded and said, "I don't think I want to be linked directly to it. Who would you suggest I get to act as my middle-man?"

"If you give me the appropriate data, I could do so."

"You aren't a scientist, so you'd have a hard time asking the right questions or understanding what they're talking about."

"There are ways around that, such as requesting the data on paper to go through and respond to at a later date, giving us both time to go over it.

"...I'll think about it. Like you said, I have a couple more weeks."

"Very well. Your next plan?"

"To use some of the Materia shards to create Fusion Materia, but Al is already working on that with help from a couple others we know. I'm glad to have handed _it_ off, at least—he'll actually have time to work on it as a student, too. The best part is that I don't have to teach him alchemy before he can work on it because he already knows."

"I see. May I assume 'alchemy' is the name for direct manipulation of the arrays?"

"Yes. And for the scientific and mathematical study and development of them."

"How much do you suppose you could do towards the Zirconaide issue by yourself if you were to work on that for the day while I'm doing my own paperwork?"

"I really need Genesis' help to do more work on Zirconaide, so there isn't really anything I can do at the moment. Though, a large place we could lay out the arrays without fear of them being found or disturbed would be good."

Rufus' brow rose, but he said, "Unfortunately, given the presence of janitors, I am unable to provide such a place. Were there any other plans in the works?"

"The potential of changing the bracers—armor—so they don't cause the boosts or deficiencies, but I think Tseng has that one."

"Really? Well, I've scheduled our meals to be brought here because I have too much paperwork to catch up on. It will easily be _late_ this evening before I've finished what I need to do, and I can't afford to leave until I've done it all."

The Turk eyed him for a long moment as he knew 'late' meant eight or later. With a small smile, he said, "Okay, I'll just read until then."

The older blond nodded and agreed, "Of course, my good behavior now will mean I'll be giving you a run for your money when we leave here this evening."

"...You're going to go out on the town after spending so long with paperwork?" Eden asked in horror.

Rufus gave him an amused look and informed him, "I rather find it rejuvenating to go out on the town after doing so much paperwork. You could always leave me to my own devices, as I truly don't feel I need a guard to relax at a bar for a few hours."

"Right..." the younger teen sighed. "And no, I'm _not_ going to 'leave you to your own devices'. You need a guard, and since I'm it, I'm staying, like it or not." He then gazed at the older teen for a moment before asking, "Do you have Materia on you?"

"...I have a few slotted ones, but I was never meant to be a combatant, and even my skill with a gun bothers my father severely," Rufus answered in puzzlement. "I've also practiced with the general ones in the Turks' training rooms, but I couldn't keep those."

"Show me what you have," the younger teen replied, meeting the other blond's eyes evenly.

After a pause, the eighteen-year-old pulled out what he had—three of them only, all Mastered, Restore, Heal, and Seal.

"That's all?" Eden sneered. "What, does your father _want_ you to die?" He then gave his head a shake and said, "Never mind," and looked up to meet Rufus' shocked gaze. "I agree you're generally a non-combatant, but that doesn't mean you don't need things to buy you time to escape or to protect yourself. If it's true you have Turk training in any capacity, staying back and doing literally nothing probably also doesn't sit right with you. Right now, I can give you one thing to help you out, since it's just a spare I have kicking around." He then drew his spare Mirage from his pocket and offered it to Rufus.

When the older blond took the green Materia shard, he asked, "What is the point of this?"

"Mirage, even with just Multi on it, will definitely help you survive longer by making it much harder for an attacker to target you. In all honesty, you should have Transform, Shield, Barrier, Time, Mystify, Exit, Destruct, Float, and Contain on you as well, and I'd only give you Contain because casting most of those has a decent likelihood of causing an effect—like Break causing petrification—as well. Maybe you won't want to use all of those because it'll cause you too many deficiencies, but that's the set I would say is most likely to keep you alive the longest while letting you help out in battle to some degree," Eden answered in reply.

For a long minute, Rufus was silent, then he asked, "Is there a way to gain those effects without needing all of those actively slotted?"

Leaning back to think for a minute, the Turk debated any alternatives, then met his charge's eyes again to say, "Enemy Skill would sufficiently cover many of them, assuming you were willing to go on a world-wide monster hunt to collect the skills on it, and there's also Full Cure. I also have a Summon which would take the place of the most important parts of Shield, Barrier, and Time, called Carbuncle. If you had a fully developed Enemy Skill and Carbuncle, and Full Cure at second level or Mastered, I'd be likely to have you use those three with Float, Exit, Mirage, and Destruct. (1)"

"Is this possible to accomplish when more than one of those is extremely difficult to acquire?" the older blond in white asked curiously.

"Yes—I have or can get everything except Destruct, but Genesis has one of those. Enemy Skill is the only one we have to manually find, as Zack can Master any of the others for us. The problem is in gathering the Enemy Skills when almost half of them come from the northern continent—Bone Village and right up through to the Northern Crater. I wouldn't _want_ to go there alone, especially with a non-combatant to protect, but I know Genesis has an Enemy Skill which probably isn't complete unless he managed to get sent to Icicle Inn for something and had spare time to go Skill hunting. From the research I did, most of those skills are well-worth having, but the danger in trying to get them is huge, and Enemy Skill has to be built up independently through gaining those skills, not through experience."

"Where else are there 'Skills' to acquire?"

"Everywhere from the wastes outside Midgar to Wutai—where you can now go safely, especially if you're with me. I didn't have time to go exploring there because I was working on two cases and babysitting Yufi at the same time, and I couldn't even make it to the Materia Mine to see what I could find there, but there should be at least two Enemy Skills we can only get there."

"In other words, if I want to go Enemy Skill hunting, you'll gladly come along, but only if I correctly establish my trek as an assigned mission for the Turks and SOLDIER. I would likely wind up with at least one more Turk and one or two SOLDIERs that way."

"Most likely. And that's assuming Tseng is willing to send me haring off on a trip like that given Fuhito's vendetta against me. You may have to make do with Reno, Genesis, and others."

"I would hardly be setting up a charted course for anyone but Tseng to know," Rufus said in amusement. "The reason would be mainly because we would be 'exploring at my whim'. There are many places I've wanted to see or visit and have never had the opportunity, so if I make those arrangements now, that would be useful to me. Are there Turks in particular you would like to have accompany us if Tseng determines we need more than you and Genesis?"

"Any of—well, any of the Turks, since they're all pretty powerful and skilled. If any also have an Enemy Skill they'd like to develop, Tseng would probably give them priority to go on a trip for that reason. Otherwise, you could get some of Gaia's Refuge's people to help out, too," Eden offered. "But you'll have to see how it works out when you present your case to Tseng and Lazard."

With a nod, then a sigh, Rufus said, "Well, I suppose it would be best if I get to work on my paperwork, then."

Soon after, Eden was sitting in his chosen chair as he read and his charge worked on a rather large stack of paperwork on his desk. So the day progressed with little more than that until just as late as the older teen had figured, and Eden just gave a heart-felt sigh as they left the building.

It didn't take long for Rufus to choose a bar in Sector 8 called the Behemoth's Den (rather than the usual Goblins Bar, where nearly all the other night life was), where he settled in one of the bar stools and ordered a very strong drink that made Eden sigh again. As the blond Turk sat beside his charge, the older teen said, "You could leave."

"Stop it, Rufus," Eden replied as several people stared at the pair.

"Well, then, at least don't sit so close, otherwise I won't even be able to get any decent company," Rufus ordered. "Anyway, I don't think you'd like to see me pawing a woman while sitting right beside you."

With an irritated noise Rufus probably didn't hear above the din and music, the Turk moved to the end of the bar and asked for some water, then found a shadowed place to stand where he could keep an eye on the older blond from. It was a good thing his previous training had been to keep his mind on the task at hand so he refrained from drinking anything alcoholic—though he was sorely tempted as he saw Rufus flirting with a random woman, then with a second one. It looked like nothing too out of the ordinary was going to happen that night, though, so he supposed he should be thankful.

Until Rufus went down the hall to the bathroom and three men 'conveniently' followed, and while it wasn't uncommon for more than one man to head in the direction of the washroom around the same time, it was usually staggered. Usually, Eden probably wouldn't have noticed them, but something just seemed off to him, so he put his almost empty glass of water on the nearest table and headed after the three men and Rufus. If they had been from Gaia's Refuge, he wouldn't have worried, but they weren't—they looked more like office workers down on their luck.

As soon as he walked into the bathroom to see Rufus surrounded, he knew he'd been right to worry.

"Unhand me!" the older blond glared at the three men surrounding him.

"Or what, you'll call daddy to take care of us?" one asked with a sneer. "Go ahead and call him—you can tell him he'll have to give up a cool billion to get you back unharmed."

"Is idiocy contagious or something?" Eden asked from the doorway, brow raised.

The three men turned to him and one gasped, "A Turk! Get him!"

A sigh and three hard punches later, Eden had laid the three flat and looked up at Rufus to ask above the sounds of the men's moans and groans, "Did they hurt you?"

"The one on the right bruised my arm, but it was nothing more serious," Rufus replied, gaze faintly curious.

"In other words, they're getting away with their lives this time," the blond Turk said, then looked down at the three. "You hear that? Only because you didn't hurt my charge, you're going to get another chance to get an honest job. Lay a hand on him again and I won't be so nice." His gaze moved back to Rufus to ask, "And you thought you didn't need a guard?"

That time, it was Rufus who gave a heart-felt sigh, then said, "Let's go home, then, Eden."

They quickly left the bar and soon after arrived at the manor where the Shinras lived, where Dark Nation greeted Eden back by balancing on his hind legs and bracing his paws on the Turk's shoulders to lick his face, much to Rufus' amusement.

 **Notes:**

 **(Sorry, it's pretty long this time! Obviously, no one has to read my reasoning unless they want to.)**

(1) This was the final shortest list I came up with for Rufus, based on the fact that he's not supposed to be trying to fight, only to keep himself alive, and a whole lot of Enemy Skills are combat-oriented, so with those, he'll have lots of things to fight with, too. Ed's his guard, and he doesn't do a half-assed job, so for his charge to be protected, he needs to give him tools with which to keep himself alive in a pinch.

Bad Breath causes nearly every status effect in random combinations based on what's registered to them in each game (I have _always_ hated Malboros because of this skill, in _every_ Final Fantasy game!), so that takes care of pretty much all the status effect Materia. Carbuncle covers all forms of shielding, and this Carbuncle will also add some status effects like Haste (similar to how Big Guard works), and Full Cure the way I've modified it takes care of health regeneration and status healing (Enemy Skill does some of this, too). That leaves Float, Mirage, Exit, and Destruct not being covered, and two of those are Materia I created for this story. Also, Rufus can't have too many of them on him because he's a normal person with limited energy, so this was the best compromise to limit the number and still give him a good range to work with based on circumstance.

I debated having Ed offer him a Final Attack now, but in all honesty, he's got people he'd rather give copies of that to—the kids!—than to someone he still mainly views as a spoiled brat who needs a disciplinarian (though there's a good chance Rufus will get a Final Attack later on, once certain other people have their copies). Rufus has improved in his world view since Ed became his guard (quite a bit, actually), but he's still predominantly cold and self-serving. His reason for helping Ed on his crusade isn't 'to save the world' or 'to save the people', it's 'to save himself, he has to save the world/people'. I don't see Ed giving him Final Attack while he's in that mindset. Carbuncle is quite enough. Also, Rufus will largely have people around him who have Revives or Phoenixes to revive him with.

To offset this, however, Ed is actually intrinsically selfish himself, but he tends to also want what's best for people because it's what's best for them. At the point when Rufus can use both the selfish and the altruistic reasons for what he's doing (much like Ed does, himself), he'll be more than happy to give him Final Attack and Revive. There's nothing wrong with a certain amount of selfishness—some 'selfishness' is actually necessary so people don't hurt/overwork themselves—but if the selfishness goes as far as hurting others, it's gone too far, and Rufus still doesn't actually give a damn if he hurts people. Ed, on the other hand, doesn't WANT to hurt others in the process of anything he's doing, selfish or not, and it devastated him to realize his selfish desire to bring his mother back to life cost Al his body.

If you don't believe Ed is intrinsically selfish—well, later on, he and Winry will discuss this issue as part of the story, so wait until then.


	31. 28-Denial Turning

**A/N:** This chapter is needed for some of Al's personal development, and only relates directly to the story line insomuch as it means Al will be more fit later to do certain necessary things. There are no more plans to have something so completely ordinary in such detail in the story. Hopefully, people will get some chuckles out of it. I hadn't originally intended the end to go the way it did, but that ended up being rather important to Al's development, even compared to the rest.

Denial Turning

It had been four days since Al had moved into the apartment he was sharing with a boy named Anthony now. For the time they had spent together, the other boy seemed nice enough, but so far, it hadn't been that much time because Anthony was normally at Shalua, Elena, and Shelke's place until past midnight and was gone again to his Cadet training before Al had to get up in the morning for his Academy classes. Winry had also barely been around, and he'd seen more of _Tifa_ than he had of either Ed or Winry since he'd moved into the apartment. At least the place was nice enough, and he didn't need someone else to 'take care of' him on the Planet, so it gave him a sense of pride and accomplishment he hadn't felt before.

It was a sense of pride and accomplishment he wanted to pretend he didn't feel because there was still no big brother Ed there like there had been in the past.

At the moment, he and his unarmed combat class were lined up against the walls, waiting for one of the younger classes to join theirs for practice sparring that day, Elena beside him. The activity was mainly intended for the older, more 'experienced' students to help give the younger ones extra practice. There was a scaling effect which meant every class except the two oldest would get a chance to practice sparring against a class two or three years of study ahead of theirs. His class was supposed to have sparring practice with the 'eleventh years' next week, and that day, his 'ninth year' class was hosting a 'seventh year' class. Eleventh and twelfth years ended up sparring with Turks or SOLDIER Cadets to possibly be allocated to their training programs.

Students around age thirteen began filing into the room as their teacher paused to speak with Al's class' teacher, and he smiled in amusement as he saw Tifa with them. He gave her a wave, and she grinned and waved back, then made her way over to him and Elena.

"How are you, Tifa?" Al asked her.

"Good," she told him cheerfully. "This is my first time in a cross-class spar, too, because I just missed the last one. You and Elena are pretty good, but my—classmates—are really...like, not even putting in any effort, I guess? So I'm excited to maybe spar with someone really good."

"That's good," Elena said in amusement. "But it makes sense that you're better than almost all of them when you spent a month sparring with a full-fledged Turk, Tifa. You can't expect other thirteen-year-olds to be that good."

"Yeah, and actually, because it's Ed you were sparring with, and our Teacher is pretty much super-human, you really had to work hard just to stay on your feet against him," Al added in amusement.

"Your teacher is super-human?" Tifa echoed in confusion.

"Yeah—she can wrestle a bear bare-handed or knock down a wall by punching it once," Al agreed. "A few days ago, she fought that—Commander Kagawa on about equal terms for forty-five minutes, and she's not Mako-enhanced." He remembered that incident, even though he'd only heard about it second-hand—but he also noted how saying that caused everyone nearby to stare at him in shock and awe. That made him blush faintly, and it was only Elena giving his shoulder a friendly whack which kept him from trying to disappear into the wall.

"That explains a lot," Elena snorted. "It really does." Her gaze moved to Tifa as she added, "But I'm definitely no push-over, and there's Al, of course, and in our class, you'd also get a challenge out of fighting Cordin." The blond teenager used her chin to point at one of the other boys nearby who was listening curiously. In response, he gave a wry grin and a small wave.

"Okay. Maybe I'll ask the teachers if they'll let me spar with any or all of you three," Tifa mused quietly.

"All right, class, let's get started!" the teacher from Al and Elena's class called. She began allocating groups of a few younger and a few older students.

As she did—the woman reminded him more of General Armstrong or Hawkeye than she reminded him of Teacher—Al looked around as he thought about all the changes in his life. Mei's words kept coming back to him, but some part of him resisted it, wanted to keep trying to make things like they had been before. He missed his brother, missed being with him all the time, missed seeing his spats when someone had called Ed short. He missed being a protected child, he missed traveling with his brother, and he even missed the times they had met Mustang in Central or the Eastern Headquarters. Nothing had turned out like he'd thought it would when he'd pushed forward on this trip to 'get' his brother.

By what his brother had said, the world they were now on was full of nothing but pain and suffering, and he wanted to just pretend it didn't exist. He wasn't sure if he wanted to pretend 'the world' didn't exist, or if it was 'the suffering' he wanted to pretend didn't exist, but he was definitely not happy with what he knew.

He was confused. Why had his brother told him such horrible things instead of trying to keep it from him, carry it all himself like he always had? Well, even in Amestris, he hadn't been completely innocent—that would have been impossible, especially in the last year before the attack on Central. But it had still never even remotely approached what Ed had told him about so openly and bluntly, shoving things on him which were painful and which he wasn't ready for. The 'brother' he'd known would never have been so blunt, usually, unless there was no way to avoid it because they were both participating in the action—like ciphering Marcoh's research on the Philosopher's Stone.

The realization that he was now legally an adult, not a child, was also hard to swallow, but all of his classmates were so good at taking care of themselves in ways even Ed and Al had never needed to while traveling in Amestris.

Everything was so different from what he was used to.

All he'd wanted was to have his brother back, only to find out the hard way that there was no brother to get back—and he still didn't want to face that.

His thoughts were interrupted as he felt a fist flying towards him, and since he wasn't wallowing in self-pity anymore thanks to Mei, he reached up and caught the fist with pure combat instinct, gripping it, pulling it, and dragging the person attached to it to the ground flat on their belly. Then he looked down and saw an annoyed Tifa glaring at him and several people staring in surprise, so he let go of her fist and offered her a hand up. She didn't take it, but she did go back into a fighting stance to attack him again, and he fought back like he would with Teacher, Mei, or Ed. It didn't take Tifa long to step back as she panted.

"Geez, even Ed went easier on me..." she pouted. "I could have sworn you were off in la-la land at first, though."

"To be fair, I was," Al admitted wryly, and her eyes widened.

"I _told_ you it would be fine to attack him when he wasn't paying attention, _and_ not to think he'd be an easy target," Elena called from a few meters away, where she sparred with a boy about Tifa's age. "He goes off wool-gathering in his own mind a lot, and _still_ nearly always reacts to the attack anyway." She and the boy never stopped sparring while she talked.

"Yeah. You know my reasons," Al said, eying her with an almost puzzled expression as he watched her fight someone else for a change. Normally, they were fighting one another, or each had a match with someone else at the same time, so he'd never really had the opportunity to see Elena spar before. She was definitely good, but her weight wasn't balanced right—that was actually how he kept beating her. "Hey, Elena..."

"What?" she snapped, knocking the other boy down, then turning to face him with a glare, arms crossed.

"When you fight, shift more of your weight to your left foot (1)," he said. "It'll help you balance better, and better balance increases power, precision, and recovery."

She blinked and eyed him for a moment, then suddenly moved, launching herself at him and kicking out at his chest. He instinctively blocked, but the blow shoved him back about three feet and made his arms ache, so he rubbed them as Elena stood back in a relaxed position, gaze thoughtful.

"It helped. Thanks," she said after a minute, then turned back to the boy she'd been sparring with, who had stood up by then.

With wry amusement, he turned back to Tifa, and some of her actual combat skills were enough like Ed's to show him the older blond's influence on her abilities. As they sparred, he asked her, "So, what are you taking this class for?"

"Mostly for fun and a challenge," she grinned.

"You don't want to go into a combat position?" Al blinked.

"What? Oh, no, I want to open a restaurant and be a famous chef," Tifa replied cheerfully. "I'll leave the fighting to Cloud and Elena."

That made him blink with the realization that maybe he could choose something which had nothing to do with combat, too. But, he smiled at her and said, "Then I wish you luck. By that meal two days ago, you're well on your way."

"Thanks!" the younger girl grinned—and renewed her assault on him.

If nothing else, he had to commend her staying power.

They kept up like that, often switching off sparring partners after ten or fifteen minutes, until the end of the class. He and Elena both had lunch, then a free block, so he hid in the library until his next class—it was one of the general classes he'd taken, on literature. Gaia's literature was often in a very different venue than what he'd been used to, though most of what he had ever seen had been formal or educational texts, not things to read for fun. On Gaia, while there were still plenty of those kinds of texts, there were also ones which had no real purpose besides to be entertaining, and one of the texts they had to work with was LOVELESS. There were several others as well, but none as popular as that. Though, one of their texts was extremely dark, and he wasn't sure he'd call it 'entertaining', even when he was at his most depressed.

Finally, they got to the Materia class, and that day was supposed to be practice casting. In the Military Academy section or a Cadet training program, a class like that would mean they'd be lined up in front of dummies to try casting all class, but they were in the Academic Academy portion, so their rules were a little different. Their class had a set of four dummies in each corner of the room, and groups of four would be sent to try casting on those various sets of dummies once they had shown some grasp of the basic theory. Of course, sometimes the two branches of the class came together, so on occasion, Al and Elena also had that class together.

In terms of class structure, that meant casting days were group project days, and he was working with a group of three other girls. All of them were learning from an extremely rudimentary (to him) text which was three-quarters fallacy and only one quarter logical process. By extension, that made learning theory and putting said theory into practice extremely difficult. It had taken him until two days ago to realize exactly what the intrinsic flaw was with what they were being taught, and to realize why that flaw was there—Ed was right, no one knew a damned thing about alchemy, the arrays, or real scientific theory.

As he listened to the other three girls discussing the theory they had to work with—and repeatedly get no results in their attempts to cast—he sighed.

"If you're so bored, you could try participating," one of them told him crossly.

"Your theory is wrong," he said, drawing the main array for the Earth Materia as he said it. "You're all missing the fact that these 'spells' aren't 'spells', they're detailed scientific and mathematical equations, which have all been very precisely designed to operate within certain parameters." They stared at him as he spoke, and he finished drawing the array as he said, "Your books have that wrong because no one's made a real, viable scientific study of it, but back in my hometown, we knew those 'rules' intimately and had made a scientific study of them."

He paused and tapped the array he'd drawn. "This is the central array all Earth Materia spells function off of—Quake, Quake 2, and Quake 3. Attached to it are several sub-arrays which decide how strong it will be when cast, how long the cast will last, what shape it'll take, how much damage it will do, and what limits it has on it—and lots of other things." Al traced the geometrical lines which formed the base of the array and went on, "These are mathematical equations done precisely to achieve certain calculation results. Part of what they decide is the base damage this array operates on, and the method of measurement—magnitude for Earth." He tapped the text on it, which they all knew wasn't in Standard, and went on, "These are the codes detailing the operational instructions.

"Sub-arrays have them, too, and in this case, the sub-arrays are what decide the final power of the cast. One sub-array in particular, for casting Quake, stipulates that its total damage is the base magnitude plus about twenty percent of the caster's total energy. Another sub-array defines the amount of energy output needed to make the cast work—the 'magic points' you need to expend to cast it. A third stipulates a maximum energy limit to be applied to the cast. You can push tons of energy into the Materia and it won't help you cast—in fact, the Materia itself will reject the cast because you're trying to force too much energy into it, energy it doesn't want. Or, you're not giving it enough and it fizzles because it can't work with the amount you're tentatively giving it."

They all stared at him in shock before one glared and said, "So if this is supposedly so easy, _you_ do it, hot-shot!"

"I didn't say it was 'easy', I said your theory is wrong and that's why you keep getting tripped up on the same points," Al replied, then held his hand up, limp and palm-down. He then turned his hand over to produce a chunk of earth in his palm, which vanished and he turned his hand palm-down again, then turned his hand palm up as he generated a chunk of ice. He repeated the process with a ball of sorts of lightning and a ball of fire as well.

The last girl in the group said in amazement, "That's just like the Commander!" Her gaze turned back to Al thoughtfully as he dropped his hand to the desktop again, then she asked, "So which way am I going—too much or too little?"

"Too much. You're trying too hard when you don't need to," he told her with a small smile. "Everyone 'can' use Materia, so there's no pressure for you to 'get it right'. Letting that pressure get to you is what's going to make you fail at this, because as long as you're reacting to the pressure, you'll always instinctively try too hard and push too much energy into it. Calm down and take several deep breaths with your eyes closed, and just focus on the Materia you're trying to use. You'll find that if you just 'look' at it that way for a bit, you'll start to feel a bond to it, and it'll be able to indicate to you how much energy you need to give it to cast."

She blinked, then gave a small nod and closed her eyes, breathing deeply—until there was a sudden reaction from her Materia which shot across the room as a Bolt spell, causing yelps from those nearest the table. The yelps became gaping shock as a chunk of earth materialized in the path of the lightning, causing it to dissipate before the chunk of earth also dissipated. Even the girl who had accidentally shot it off turned to stare at Al in shock. He blushed at the attention from the whole class and began nervously drawing more arrays on the paper he'd drawn the first one on.

"...Did you _know_ I'd shoot off a bolt like that?" she finally asked.

"Not really," he answered, still focused on his paper. "But I've got some combat experience and I know accidents happen, so I sort of figured _something_ would happen."

"...I see..."

The remainder of the class had their group at a dummy corner for some practice, then back at their desks to write about their experiences with casting.

When he was let out of that class, Shalua was outside the door, smiling as she announced to him, "We're going to go get it now!"

"Get what?" he asked her in confusion as some of his classmates snickered.

"Your Battle Pets game, of course!" she replied, reaching out to grab his hand and pull him along behind her towards the exit.

"Wait, Shalua!" he almost whined, not really wanting to do what she was telling him they were doing. He didn't _want_ to get to know their technology! It was strange enough without that, and it would separate him more from the past he wanted to hold on to!

"Shut up. We're doing it now," she answered in a tone which left no room for argument. A couple of the guys nearby snickered about something he heard vaguely as 'him being hen-pecked', but he didn't pay it much attention. Shalua was obviously determined. When they left the Shinra building, Cait Sith was waiting outside, and Shalua picked him up. "You have to stop following me to school, Cait Sith."

"Ah'm lonely without ya, Lass," the cat replied, and Al chuckled.

Shalua just rolled her eyes and led the way to the place she was going to, which turned out to be a shop. Al wasn't entirely sure what it was a shop for, other than maybe technology in general, but Shalua led him inside and to one corner of the shop which had a lot of small packages with shiny covers. By the names of five of them—all Battle Pets variants—he assumed the others were other games, and there really weren't many. Less than five rows of five were displaying games, and five of those were the one he and Shalua were there for. He now knew what Winry had meant when she'd said they didn't have a lot of games to play without going to a casino.

"So, these are the Battle Pets games, and the five options are Magic, Support, Command, Summon, and Independent. Our group has all but the Command one, but it's up to you which one you want to play. Each one makes you start with a different Battle Pet, and it's always best to keep restarting the game until you get a female so you can breed more of them. Actually, that's true of any Battle Pet you get."

Al stared at the five of them for a long moment as he noted the pictures of the—what he assumed were Battle Pets—on the front cover. The red one was a flaming dog, the blue one was an ice bird, the yellow one was an electric—cat?—the green one was an earth deer, and the purple one was a gravity (at least, he thought it was gravity) rodent he thought was a ferret or something.

"Do I really have to do this?" he asked tiredly.

"Yes," Shalua replied simply.

"Why?"

"Because we want someone new to play with—and the more of us get to the major assault on Team Makonoid's base at the same time, the more likely all of us will be to make it through by helping each other."

He turned to look at her in surprise, then asked tentatively, "It's a group effort to play a game?"

"Shelke could probably solo it, but generally, you don't go after Team Makonoid alone," Shalua told him in amusement. "Take what you're comfortable with, since your starter will have to get you to the first town—anything else you pick up between your root town and the first town will be weak in comparison and ends up mostly being either for events or just to be part of your collection."

"...Could I take Command because I really like cats?" he asked.

She snickered. "You could. When you get to your first town, I'll trade you one of my baby fire ones so you can beat the bug company."

"Company?" Al echoed in confusion.

"Mercenary companies who guard each town. You can't go forward unless you've shown you're strong enough by beating some of their members and their leader."

"...That's a really complex game...I feel like I'm listening to you talk about a real-life scenario."

"It _is_ complex," Shalua agreed with a grin. "Now, quit stalling and pick one."

With a sigh, Al picked the yellow—Command—one so he could start with a cat, and turned to face her. She led him to where there were boxes with pictures on them of the devices he'd seen the others playing the game on, and told him to pick one in colors he liked. There was one which was black and red, and he snickered at the color combination before choosing it—it reminded him of the way Ed had been dressed in Amestris, with black clothes and a red coat. They took those to the counter to pay for them, and Shalua immediately pulled them out of their packages, only keeping the instruction books, which she shoved in his bag. She put the game in the device and turned it on before handing it to him and leading the way out of the shop.

He really didn't want to be doing this...

When it asked him for his name, he managed to figure out how to put it in, then got the game started—and almost swooned as the electric cat came onto the screen, it was _so cute_! He really had a thing for cats, and this one was attractive.

And it turned out to be female.

"Uh...how often do you get a female on the first try?" he asked Shalua in surprise. "The way you go on about getting females, it's not easy, is it?"

"First try?" she blinked. "Yeah, that's rare. Starters only have a fifteen percent chance to be female. Most others have a fifty-fifty or higher on the females, but there are some, like the fossil ones and starters, which are much higher on the males. You're really lucky. What are you going to name her?"

"...Name her?"

"Yes, you name them. You won't be able to change their names until you find the name changer much farther through the game—I haven't gotten to him yet."

Since this ridiculous game...with a cute cat!...was being forced on him, he put some thought into what he'd call a yellow-ish, lightning-based cat. Only because it was a _cat_. Finally, he decided on Catalyst (2).

"What do I do now?" he asked.

"Finish the opening scenario, then go to your menu and save. You can save anywhere except in a battle or a scenario at least," Shalua replied.

He did as requested and saved, then turned it off with a sigh, looking up—only to see them approaching their apartment building. Had they really walked all that way without him noticing it? They went inside and to their apartments, Shalua telling him to ask for help if he had any questions or needed to trade something to beat one of the company leaders. When Al got into his own apartment, he had planned on ignoring the game unless Shalua forced him to play it, so started by doing his homework that evening.

After his homework, he had something to eat, then went to work on the alchemy project he was supposed to work on for Ed. That felt normal to do, and he really wanted to do something which would draw him closer to the Ed he'd grown up with again. He made pretty good progress on it, too, working until it was time to go to bed.

This new world was insane. He wanted things to go back to how they had been before. No technology, no mature, jaded Ed, no strange people with glowing eyes...

But as he laid there in bed, he found himself thinking about the cat, and the game, and suddenly thought he should maybe give it a try. After all, the best way to play it was with others, and he had plenty of people around who he could play it alongside. He liked working with others. It wasn't just Ed he liked to work with, and he'd always felt such a huge gap with everyone else, not really knowing how to approach them and realizing they were all people he had no commonalities with because, like Ed, he was too intelligent for others his own age. Battle Pets was something he could do to maybe relate to, to find a commonality with, others his own age.

Finally, with a sigh, he got up to pull the game out again, and began playing around with it, learning the keys, screen data, and things to watch for by trial and error. By morning, he was completely exhausted, but he'd gotten to the first town and beaten the bug company by having gotten a single very rare spawn of an ice type which wasn't normally there to get. He felt strangely accomplished, and was starting to look forward to the coming day just a little bit.

Even without Ed.

 **Notes:**

(1) This was something 'the player Turk' tells Elena in Before Crisis. I figured Al would notice it, and she would take it better from him than from Anthony.

(2) This digital electric cat being named Catalyst is sort of a loaded name. Let's start with the easy pun—the 'Cat' part of it. The obvious reference then is to a catalyst in alchemy or chemistry. But Al naming the cat 'Catalyst' is a subconscious reference to his own need to move forward, and Shalua forcing Battle Pets on him—and him picking the one with the cat starter—is literally the 'catalyst' for him to start moving forward. His process isn't anywhere near finished yet, though! :P


	32. 29-Healers and Sentinels

**A/N:** This is two days after the chapter with Al starting to adapt with Catalyst. :P

Healers and Sentinels

Winry had pretty much been working non-stop since she'd gotten sent to work with Reeve—and it wasn't because he had told her to (he'd actually tried to get her to stop), it was because she had a lot to learn and do in a very short time. Cait Sith was something of a minor (or major, to her) miracle, and she wanted to be able to make auto-mail more akin to an actual limb rather than acting only in the capacity of a prosthetic which felt nothing. On the other hand, she didn't really want to give people the ability to feel more pain than auto-mail already caused them, but to allow them to feel gentle touches like someone holding their hand or tickling the bottom of their foot. 'Feeling' sensation one way seemed to mean feeling it, at least to some degree, the other as well, and she needed to find a way to separate the two.

However, it had been six days since she'd seen Eden last, and she now was forced to take a break by Reeve literally pulling her to her feet and over to his desk, where some food was laid out. "Eat," he instructed her, promptly following his own instruction and taking some of the food as he returned to his own seat.

"Thank you," she said with a smile as she took one of the two empty plates and filled it with things she thought looked tasty, some which were familiar and others not so much. Reeve was really a very sweet man who always thought about others, so she now understood fully why Ed had recommended him over anyone in the Science Department, where the medical staff would usually be. Her thoughts then immediately went back to the issue with touch and auto-mail.

"Winry, stop thinking about it for awhile," Reeve's dry voice cut into her thoughts before she'd gotten far.

"What?" she blinked, looking up at him—and realizing she'd eaten about a quarter of her food without either tasting it or realizing she'd done it.

"I know how badly you want to resolve the issue of how Cait Sith feels touch so you can incorporate it into auto-mail, but it took me nearly ten years of work to make him the way he is," the man told her. "And sometimes, you're not going to get an answer right away, and the more focus you place on trying to find the answer, the longer it will take you to do so."

"But with Ed and some others who need prosthetics—" she began with a frown. He was usually so willing to help others!

"Winry," the man cut her off with a small sigh. She stopped with a glare, so he went on, "I'm not telling you to quit the project, I'm telling you to let your mind take a break so it can work on the problem in the background." When her gaze become puzzled, he decided to go over the situation with her as things stood. "And there are other factors in this situation which mean you _need_ to take a break. The first of those is that you're a Shinra employee working with the Urban Development department, and _I need_ you to help me with a couple other projects before I go crazy. Would you like to hear the rest of my reasons, or is that enough?"

The blond girl had to ponder the question for a minute as she mulled over her employment status, but then she blinked and asked, "You actually _have_ other reasons which aren't just extensions of the one you gave?"

Reeve gave her an amused look as he said, "I do."

"Then I'd like to hear them," she answered, peering at him intently.

"Let's start with the extent of your technological knowledge," he said.

"I'm an engineer, not a programmer," she glared.

"True, but you don't even know how to use basic engineering programs you would usually be able to use fairly well, even if you'd been self-taught on the streets of the Midgar Slums. And if you were to study programming, you'd have a much easier time working out how Cait Sith feels touch in the _first_ place, thereby making it easier to work out the problem you're trying to. Your skills without using technological support are phenomenal—the best I've ever seen, in fact—which makes you one of the best people I have to send out into the field to make repairs to any mechanics in need. One of the big problems with that, however, is that nearly all of our engineering is tied into computer programming, so you _need_ to know said programming, as well as getting up to date on our very advanced engineering outside prosthetics."

A silence followed the man's words until Winry finally sighed and agreed, "Okay, I can see what you're saying. Does that mean you want me to take some programming lessons at the Academy?"

"No, not for programming and engineering—I have someone here in the department whom I'd like you to work with, as he's been wanting to pass his knowledge on to someone who will use it before he goes into retirement," Reeve answered in mild amusement. "I'd prefer those lessons stay between you, me, and your teacher, also. On the other hand, you may well want to take some lessons at the Academy, and so far, you haven't even _looked_ at the list of offered courses. I know of two classes you would probably very much enjoy taking, and there may be others."

"What if I'd rather not be bothered with going back to school?"

"If you look through the list of courses and don't find anything you find you really want to take, I'll respect your decision, but only if you actually take the time to see what they're offering. You aren't being fair either to the Academy or to yourself if you won't even look at the courses and descriptions as an intelligent fifteen-year-old who has a free pass to take any courses she wants."

Another silence passed, then the girl sighed and agreed, "Okay, I'll have a look at the list. Do you want me to do so now?"

"I was actually thinking you would do that tomorrow, as—well, I get invitations to events I don't want to attend, but you're now my assistant, so if you're the sort who likes fancy balls, dinners, and parties, I can have you attend most of them in my stead. Since Eden went out of his way to make sure you'd have a formal dress, I think you would enjoy those social events more than I do. Am I right?" the man asked, his gaze both curious and hopeful.

First, she blinked at him uncomprehendingly, but then she stared at him in shock as she asked, "Can you really send me when I've only been working for you for, like, a week?"

"As I said, you're registered as my assistant, which also means you're my replacement—my second in command," Reeve said. "We'll get to those requirements soon, too. As my assistant, I can have you attend the 'less vital' functions in my stead, and you'll attend the 'more vital' ones with me. I only know of two—types of events—where I would attend and you wouldn't. So?"

"...I like parties and events like that. Will I need a date to go with?"

"Not normally. Any invitations I receive will state on them if they would prefer you bring a date, but there aren't many like that. You could invite someone, however, regardless of whether or not the invitation requests it. Cait Sith?"

At the call, the robotic cat jumped up onto the desk with an envelope in his mouth, then stood on his hind legs to use one front—hand—to take the envelope from his mouth and offer it to Winry. She took it, opened it, and read the gilded invitation inside—then blinked and looked at Reeve in surprise.

"The date is tomorrow? How will my dress be ready in time?"

"Because it just needs to be fitted, and I'm sure the tailor Eden found will do a good job of getting it done quickly. I've also asked that the new SOLDIER Third Class Roy Mustang escort you if he was well enough after his injections, and since he's mostly recovered, he'll be able to do so. There will be a Turk with you as well, but I'm not entirely sure which one. The Turk should be with Roy when he gets here to pick you up, which should be soon, since it's almost the end of the usual supper time. You should finish eating."

Looking down at her plate—it was still three quarters full—she realized she _did_ have to eat, and the time for the event on the invitation was six the next evening, leaving her the day to do things. "Besides looking at the possible courses I might want to take, what would I be doing tomorrow?" she asked, then started eating again.

"If there's enough time, you'll be able to move to your office and lab room, but I had thought I'd introduce you to the man who will teach you the technological education you're missing. As long as you promise not to pull Cait Sith apart again, you can take him with you for the day, even to the event, just so I have a record of it," he explained.

Winry was amused as she looked over at the robotic cat and said, "I've learned all I can from pulling you apart at this point, so it'll be awhile before I do it again—if I even ever do."

"Tha's good ta know, Lass," Cait Sith replied with a nod, and Reeve chuckled.

Soon after, the fifteen-year-old blond had finished eating.

A knock sounded at the door right then, so Reeve said, "When you're finished with the dress fitting, go home to your own apartment and sleep, visit friends, whatever you like. I'll have a car pick you up tomorrow morning, so you shouldn't have an issue just bringing your dress here to change into shortly before you need it."

She blinked and nodded, and Reeve went to open the door for the two men outside, who turned out to be Mustang and a Turk Winry hadn't met yet. He had black hair with a design shaved into the left side of it, and it looked like he had an earring, too. What shocked her the most about Mustang wasn't the uniform which was a light blue version of the black one First Zack Fair had worn, it was how his eyes were now glowing blue with a dark teal rim around the pupil rather than their usual black. He also had a crease in his brow which she associated with someone in pain with nothing to help kill it.

"What happened to your eyes, Sir?" she asked him in shock. "And what's wrong?"

"Stop with the 'Sir' right now," Roy said as he held a hand up in a stop motion. "By the actual structure and chain of command in Shinra, you're registered as a higher rank than mine, anyway, Miss Rockbell." He actually looked faintly amused. "All SOLDIERs have eyes like mine, though the other-color rim around the pupil ranges from green to my color. A person's original eye color has something to do with which exact color it comes out to, usually. This is what Mako infusions do. As for the other, I have a wicked headache, and I'm fairly certain the only way to relieve it is with some help from someone I know in town. Now, you need an escort to pick up a dress?"

"Apparently from a Mrs. Elmyra Gainsborough in the Sector Five Slums," Winry agreed.

Ruluf sighed and commented, "Well, that explains why Tseng said I should go with you, anyway." When the two others looked at him, Mustang with a raised brow and Winry in surprised confusion, he clarified, "I've been to the Gainsborough home before, so I know where to find it with the least hassle and attracting the least attention. My name's Ruluf, by the way, Miss Rockbell."

"I see," the girl murmured. She then smiled and said, "It's nice to meet you, then, Ruluf. Apparently, I'm supposed to go to my apartment in Sector Four when we're done with the dress, so will you be joining us for that trip as well?"

The man tipped his head slightly to the side and replied, "That depends on whether I get called back to work on a case before you're done. If I haven't been called, I'll be arriving at your building with you, then heading back here."

With a nod and another smile, the blond said, "Let's go, then, Gentlemen."

She heard Reeve snicker softly behind her and noted how Mustang turned to face the man questioningly even though he was further away and she had only barely heard the sound, herself. As such, as they were getting on the train to the Slums, Winry asked the man, "Could you tell me what physical changes have happened to you since getting the infusion, besides apparently having an enhanced sense of hearing?"

Since the three of them were sitting side-by-side in the train car, the men to either side of her, Mustang didn't have to speak loudly to explain, "Strength, reflexes, sight, hearing, even taste, have all been enhanced to some degree. It's—disorienting to have to remember not to use the usual force to, say, turn a door handle, because the force I used to have to turn it at to open it now breaks the handle. That's part of what the recovery time is. During that time, we're almost guaranteed to injure ourselves, which also showed me exactly how quickly my wounds now heal. Let's just say death is a marginal danger because minor wounds heal fully in less than a minute."

"If you aren't fighting someone else enhanced," Ruluf threw in dryly.

"That's true," Roy agreed.

"What's the rest of the recovery time?" Winry asked curiously.

With faces, both men said, "Mako poisoning." They then stared at one another in mild surprise over the top of her head as the girl chuckled.

Not long after, they had gotten off the train and made their way from the station in the Sector 7 Slums through the edge of the Sector 6 Slums—they passed a park in the process, one where the present items looked old but functional—and headed into the Sector 5 Slums. It was a pretty long walk, but they stopped by a Church on the way so Winry could rest and look at the flowers. She felt attracted by them, so reached out to touch one bud trying to bloom—

All at once, she felt a sensation like energy was being dragged from her and watched the bud bloom into a faintly yellow flower. A moment later, everything went dark.

When her vision cleared, she blinked open tired eyes to stare up at Roy and Ruluf, who were both leaning over her, gazing at her worriedly, and she could feel an arm supporting her shoulders. That called into question her position, and she realized she was laying down with Mustang holding her upper body up while they tried to wake her. When a small, almost aqua-colored creature of some sort landed on Ruluf's shoulder, she blinked at it, wondering why she felt a kinship with it.

Could things get any stranger?

"How are you feeling?" Ruluf asked her. "Do we need to head back?"

"I'm fine now," she said, levering herself into a sitting position. "What happened?"

A girl's voice said from somewhere past Ruluf, "The flowers sensed Cetra Healer blood and pulled on it. Except that one particular flower wanted more than you could give without any training or experience, so it drained you dry and you fainted from energy exhaustion. Thank you, Carbuncle." The aqua colored creature gave something like a cheer and hopped quickly out of sight.

Winry looked past Ruluf to a brown haired girl with green eyes who was approaching them, and past her was a familiar, brown haired woman and an equally familiar man—Felicia and Mick. Ruluf and Felicia looked tired, Mustang suddenly looked amused, and Mick looked curious.

"Hello, Mr. Murray, Miss—um—Pereld, right?" Winry asked.

The woman nodded and said, "But just call me Felicia. Everyone _else_ does."

"So who's this girl and what's a Cetra Healer?" Winry asked as her eyes went to the younger brown haired girl, who looked about her age. "And what was that creature?"

"I'm Aeris Gainsborough—my mother has your dress—and I'm the last descendant of the Cetra on this world who still has the power," the girl said with a grin. "But now I'm sure Eden's right and all the people who came here from your world have Cetra blood, and you're even a Healer instead of a Sentinel. Your basic instinct is to fix things, to heal damage to the land, to people. By default, you draw Lifestream energy back to the places it's been forced out of—or drained from—like these flowers here. They do the same thing to me sometimes, but I know how to tell them I'm only giving so much and to keep them from trying to take more. I think Mei and Alphonse might both also be Healers, but if that's true, Mei has a huge amount of control over it and Alphonse—denies it. Sentinels, like Roy—and like Mick—protect the Healers. Except Roy qualifies as a full-fledged Healer _and_ a Sentinel now that he's got the infusions."

"Oh," Winry stared, then yelped as something landed on her head. Grabbing it, she pulled it off her head—and saw the same aqua-colored creature from before?

"That's called Carbuncle," Aeris added. "Carbuncle is a little strange as far as Summons go, though, because it's been here for days now when it should have vanished back to its Materia shard as soon as Eden slept the same day it was Summoned. On the other hand, it led us here to meet you, so...I guess it's not all bad for it to stay around. Can you walk?"

"Yes. I'm fine now," Winry agreed, putting Carbuncle down and rising carefully, a hand on Roy's arm as the two men rose with her, obviously ready to catch her if she fell again.

"I'll give you some of the same advice I gave Roy, then," Aeris said. "If your abilities are activating, you're going to attract energy and things are going to start growing around you, so in the places where you spend the most time, keep lots of plants and seeds so your energy will go to them rather than something—further away. As in, get them now, on your way home from my place. If you're okay to walk, my home isn't that far away now, so we should head over. You'll be able to rest while Mom is fitting your dress."

"That's a very good idea," Winry agreed as she felt suddenly dizzy—and began hearing something like a murmur almost...what seemed to be right behind her. She turned her head to look, expecting to see someone, but no one was there.

"Oh, dear, that's definitely Healer activation (1)," Aeris sighed. She then grinned and walked forward to link her arm through Winry's, then led the blond girl out of the Church as she added, "So, think of the voices you're now starting to hear like the background noise you'd hear on a busy street, and—"

The adults all sighed as they followed the two girls to the Gainsborough home, where Elmyra greeted them with some surprise, but also with joy. Both Roy and Winry listened to Aeris explain the situation and how to handle it to both of them—by the time they were done, Roy's headache had gone away—then Mick joined them to find out more about the Cetra in general and the Sentinels. Ruluf, Felicia, and Elmyra all listened with curiosity while the small group of Cetra talked, but they all said nothing, Elmyra because she was working on the dress and the other two because they were busy storing the data on the Cetra for later use.

Finally, Winry asked, "Why do you think Mei and Al are also both Healers, Aeris?"

The other girl paused thoughtfully for a minute, then said, "Mei was mimicking my care of the flowers, and she was getting results from it. Not nearly as strong as mine, but results nonetheless, and it takes a Cetra Healer to do something like that, especially with no prior training. Alphonse was—drawn by the flowers, but he seems to pull back from things, think about too many things too hard. I mean, Eden does that, too, but he does it in a way where he charges head-first into things, not where he pulls back from them forcibly to observe them almost as though from 'outside' them."

Winry blinked, but Roy said, "From everything I knew and saw of the brothers, they _always_ behaved in that way. I don't know about when they were very young, but I'm pretty sure Ed's reckless nature—which can be dangerously reckless at times—is the reason why Al steps back and acts as the voice of reason. They work off each other well that way, but it's a mutual dependence which isn't always good and which requires both in order to function. They have a kind of borderline obsession with one another as a result, though Ed might have actually gotten over it while Al definitely has _not_."

"That's a good way to put it," Mick agreed. "It worried the General until she saw the two of them actually act independently of one another."

"I think part of that also comes from when Ed used to hit Al all the time out of jealousy because he wasn't their mother's only child anymore and he didn't get all her attention, then their parents getting Ed to take care of and protect his younger brother," Winry put in dryly. The others all looked at her. "But they're both really intelligent, and Al is the more methodical of them while Ed is the creator. When they were younger, they _both_ went and did reckless things, though. Together or separately."

"And how do you fit in with them?" Aeris asked the blond curiously.

"I'm sort of like a sister to them both," Winry answered in wry amusement. "We all pretty much grew up that way, anyway. But if Mei's a Healer, I'm not surprised because all of her people use something called 'the veins of the dragon' to use alchemy—they have a different name for it—"

"Alkahestry," Roy filled in. "It's essentially our world's version of the Lifestream, but as Ed said, spread over a much larger space, so it's spread much thinner. She's an expert in alkahestry, so I would think it's logical for her to have some command over the Lifestream as well. Also because her people place a huge emphasis on discipline and keeping control of oneself, something she was raised to do, despite her often over-active imagination."

"Right, that," Winry agreed. "And with Al, I think he's only resisting it right now because he's still locked in that obsession with Ed. Once he gets over it—I mean, it's _easy_ to see how much Ed's changed—he'll probably jump right into it."

"There's a certain amount of logic to that," Felicia agreed from the kitchen table near where the group were sitting on some cushions they'd put in a corner of the room. Beside her, Ruluf nodded. "What puzzles me is if they all have said blood, how many are 'Healers' and how many are 'Sentinels'? Is there a way to know that so we know who is in the greatest danger of being noticed by Shinra?"

There was a silence before Mick said, "I actually think any Ishbalan Cetra are Healers by nature, even if they've forced themselves to take another role—that's Amal and M—Kamil. I'd have to say Liam is a Sentinel. I don't know about the others."

"Mrs. Curtis is a Sentinel," Roy and Winry both said, producing chuckles from everyone else as they stared at one another in surprise. The man then went on, "I'd peg Kain as a Healer, but I'm not sure which way Ri—ha would go. You'd have to meet and assess her, I think, but my first thought is that she's a Sentinel."

"Fair enough," Aeris agreed with a grin.

"So we need to make sure the Healers have plenty of plants close at hand to hide their abilities with," Felicia mused thoughtfully.

"And now that I'm done the dress adjustments, you can try it on one more time, Winry. If the fit is right now, you'll be able to take it and head home," Elmyra cut in just then. There were several startled looks, making her ask, "What, did you all manage to forget the young lady came here to get her formal dress fitted properly?"

After a stunned silence, they all chuckled again as Winry rose to take the dress upstairs so she could change. It was properly fitted, so she got it wrapped in plastic to protect it, then she, Roy, and Ruluf were able to head to her apartment. The Turk left at the doors to the building, but Roy stayed to visit with her and Al for a bit, and she was asleep soon after. Tifa watched her in amusement for a bit before preparing a meal she could keep warm in the oven and leaving a note for Winry so she'd realize there was food for her.

 **Notes:**

(1) There's a reason why Winry is the first one to 'impressively' activate on Gaia. First, Mei is already more than half active, but she has enough of her own control over it and channels a large part of it most of the time, so she's had no blatant incidences yet. The others who could be Healers are in completely the wrong mindset for quick activation, other than maybe Kain, who is more a communications person than a soldier. Winry, however, is a doctor of a sort, and already has a desire to help fix people, making it much easier for her to activate before the others—she's already somewhat listening to that aspect of herself.


	33. 30-Familiarity

**A/N:** This is happening later the same day as Winry's meeting with Aeris.

Sorry about the long note at the end—for those who are interested, it tackles the issue of the Wutains' existence on Gaia in the first place, when they actually don't have an origin in FFVII's canon story line. More at the end.

Familiarity

Mei sat on the bench outside the Academy office, kicking her feet as she waited for Tseng. It was already really late in the day, and she'd missed Yufi and Illis going home because she'd been looking up some data in the library on monsters for her zoology project. She was supposed to be getting a key to the home where they were living in a couple more days, but Shinra didn't make those locks, it was done by a locksmith in the city, and he had other work to do around that, so until then, she just had to either go with Yufi and Illis or wait for Tseng to take her back there.

Since she had to wait for him and had nothing else to do just then, she daydreamed, then thought about some things, then remembered some fond memories, then daydreamed some more, and so on. Usually, she wouldn't kick her feet, but she'd found Shinra chairs to be just a little too tall for her to sit in and have her feet on the floor, so because they were dangling in the air—she kicked them. She'd been doing it since they'd gotten to Midgar, almost, and was thankful that many kids in the city also did it, and even Alphonse and Winry sometimes did it a little. No one minded unless she kicked so hard she made noise.

She drifted into a memory from not too long after they'd gotten to Midgar, when she'd met some people on the Upper Plate (1), only coming out of it when she heard a familiar voice saying, "—have to let them know. Thank you, Felicia. In the meantime, I can make sure the people here, like Mei, are aware of the situation." She looked up to see Tseng talking on his PHS as he made his way towards her, and after a pause, he finished with, "Take care, then, and let me know if you need anything else." He then hung up and looked at the girl on the bench.

There was a pause as he stopped in front of her, then he said, "I'm sorry for taking so long to finish up in the office today. You could have come up and waited there."

"I was okay here," she smiled, getting up. "Straight home today?" she asked, pulling her bag on, then walking with him as he motioned her to join him while they headed to the elevator and down to the lobby.

"Unless there's something you really need to do now, home is the best idea," he told her dryly. "We could stop somewhere to eat if you like, since I'm pretty sure you've missed supper at the Princess' place."

"That would be nice!" she smiled. "Do you know any Xi—Wutain places that are good?"

He smiled faintly in amusement. "There are two in Midgar. Did you want the more traditional one or the less traditional one in setting and atmosphere?"

"More!" she chirped with a big smile. "A little slice of home is hard to find out here!"

Tseng actually chuckled at the words, making Mei look at him curiously. He answered the look with, "I gave the same answer to Veld—my predecessor—when he showed me to this place." She gave a little giggle.

As they walked through the streets, she happened to look over and see the nice couple she'd met on her first trip up to the Plate. They were staring at her in shock, so she gave them a smile and wave.

"Friends of yours?" Tseng asked curiously.

"I met them about a month ago, when I got to the Plate from one of the support pillars," she told him with a bit of a smirk. His brow rose. "They were nice and gave me some of that candy ice cream. I think they were worried I'd been kidnapped by slave traders when they didn't see me again after that."

"And then they see you walking around in a Shinra Academy uniform and in the company of the _very_ well-known 'Wutain Turk'," he finished the thought in amusement.

"Will they be more worried about me or less, do you think?" she asked Tseng seriously.

"Probably less—Turks are known to be protective of those who are—important to them, and the assumption would be that you're important to me for me to be walking around so readily with you," he replied.

Mei blinked, then blinked again and asked, "Am I not actually important to you?"

Tseng notably had to resist rolling his eyes. "Mei, you're my ward. Is it even feasible for me to think you're unimportant? To me personally, that is."

To his surprise, the girl was quiet for a moment before she finally looked away and said, "I wasn't important to my own father. It wouldn't surprise me if I wasn't important to you, either."

He stopped and reached down to rest a hand on her shoulder, making her look up at him as he told her, "Don't ever think you aren't important to me. Not because of Eden or Alphonse, or anyone else you know, but because _you_ are important. You're a resourceful child who has largely grown up too soon, even by _our_ standards, but you're also very intelligent and normally nice to be around. I want to see you flourish, and if the past several days are any indication, you're doing that very well. I'm glad to help you do so."

Mei had to take a few moments to assess the words, but then she gave him a happy smile, tears of joy at the corners of her eyes. When she moved up to him to hug him around the waist—a show of affection normally not displayed in public in Xing—he let her, and put his own arms around her shoulders. That was the first time a man she looked up to had acknowledged her or allowed her so close, and she had no words to express how much it meant to her. She'd gotten along with most of her 'family' reasonably well, but even Prince Ling had never bothered to form a real bond with her, and he had been all for giving the smaller Clans like hers more power in Xing. How did people who were—spies—manage to give so much caring to complete strangers?

After a few minutes, she drew back from him, quickly wiped her eyes, and looked up at him to say, "Thank you."

He peered at her intently for a moment, then gave a small smile and nod. "Let's go eat, shall we?" he asked, offering her his hand.

She blinked, then took the offered hand and let him lead her the rest of the way to the restaurant. It made her feel like a cherished younger sister, not like an annoyance being put up with only because she was legitimately family, so even though it could have been 'demeaning', she didn't take it that way. Something she had always wanted was something he was offering her, and she had the sudden thought that maybe Tseng actually had royal blood, too.

It didn't take too long to get to the restaurant, and sure enough, it _did_ look just like home. Well, home with a few modifications she recognized from the islands further east, and some which were unique-but-similar-to the ones she knew. The likeness between the countries of Xing and Japan and the country of Wutai was startling, and should have been impossible (2). They sat and ate, and she felt like she was home for awhile, but better because now she had 'family' with her. The language mostly spoken there—Wutain she assumed—was mostly what she recognized as Japanese, but with Xingese qualities to it.

"Are you, maybe...royal?" she suddenly asked him quietly in Wutain once she felt she knew the mix between them well enough.

The man gazed at her for a long moment, then sighed and said, also in Wutain, "I'm Yufi's second cousin and technically next in line for the Wutain throne if something happens to her and her father. Wutai has long since ceased to be my home, so I have no intention of trying to claim the throne, with or without anything happening to Yufi. No, she doesn't know—she was only born the same year my family was tortured to death, so never knew any of us. I have no intention of telling her, and would appreciate you not saying anything, either. My home and place is here, with Shinra."

After a pause, she agreed, "I won't tell." He nodded with a small smile.

Soon after, they were done and Tseng led the way to the home where both Mei and Yufi were staying. It wasn't a 'manor', but it was a large house not that far from the one where the President and Rufus lived. It had a fair-sized yard with a brick wall around all but the front gate, some 'fake' grass to create a semblance of a lawn, and several newly-planted trees around the wall, ones which had been dying. No trees had ever grown there before, but people kept trying because trees growing would attract more people to the area.

As they stepped inside the front door, Mei yelped and drew her kunais to block Yufi's combat shuriken as the younger girl came down on her. Tseng sighed, but had no chance to say anything as Yufi asked eagerly, "Did you see the back yard, right outside where your room is?" Her combat shuriken had made its way to her belt at her back.

"Huh? There's something to see there?" Mei blinked, putting her kunais away.

"Yeah, there's _trees_!" Yufi said eagerly with a big smile. "They were all withered last night, but then we went to class without looking at them, and now they're all _grown_! They aren't very big—only about five feet—but they're all _green_ and growing buds in pale yellow!"

Tseng rubbed his forehead and said tiredly, "So Felicia was right..."

Both girls looked at him in surprise, but it was Illis who asked from the top of the entryway stairs, "What was she right about?"

He looked up at her, then at the two girls and said, "Mei, you need to keep seeds here, in your room, at all times. You have special genetics which make you like the young woman you met when you went with Eden to get your PHS, which means plants pull on your energy to grow. You haven't done it during the day yet, but it may start happening if you don't have an outlet for that energy at night. Also, it would be best not to share the fact that you have this ability."

She blinked at him, then gave a grin and nod. "I won't. I like plants, so that's okay. Where do I get some seeds?"

"There's a florist on the Upper Plate who will have some. Most people just buy flowers from her, which she gets delivered from a town near Kalm, but in case someone wants seeds, she keeps a small supply. There are also two in the Slums who have seeds. I've never seen my friend harvest any, so I don't think she has them. The two shops in the Slums will have more exotic—and likely illegal—varieties in their lists," Tseng informed her.

She gave a small 'oooh' as Illis said, "I'll see that she gets some soon, Tseng. Don't worry." He gave her a nod. "Now go get some rest," the Lady Turk added in amusement.

"Come and see them!" Yufi burst out suddenly, practically vibrating with excitement as she grabbed Mei's wrist and dragged her towards the back door.

Tseng looked up at Illis as she descended the stairs and asked, "Is Yufi really always like that?"

"She is," the woman replied in amusement. "I'm grateful to Shelke for making her Battle Pets ones she can talk to, because that will keep her busy for over an hour at a time. Mei needs a unit, too, if that's okay?"

"Of course. She can use some of the funds I allocate to her as spending money," Tseng agreed, then gave her a wave as she followed the path the girls had taken. He then left to go back to his apartment in the Shinra building and rest.

SH

After leaving Winry and Tifa's—Al had been there with Tifa while they played Battle Pets when Winry and Roy had gotten there—Al had shown the older man his apartment with Anthony. Like usual, Anthony wasn't there because he was at Shalua, Shelke, and Elena's, so they currently had the apartment to themselves. Roy took a look around the space the two young men had set up, then sat down in the living room to face the fifteen-year-old blond, who got them some drinks of juice before sitting across from Roy.

"Why is your roommate not here?" the older man asked curiously.

"Because he practically lives at Shalua's place across the hall," Al replied in amusement. "He has an obsession with protecting Shalua and Shelke—Shalua especially, though he often treats Shelke more like a comrade-in-arms. So, even though he has a bedroom here, I might see him here for about ten minutes a day, if I'm lucky. The only reason I know him at all is because I spend time at Shalua's, too."

"So it seems you're making some friends," Roy smiled faintly. "That's a good thing."

Making a face, the younger boy replied, "I'd rather just have my brother back." His gaze was on the game device he played Battle Pets on, and Roy noticed how the device was mostly black with red on the outer top in a shell—like it was 'wearing a red jacket' over black 'clothes'.

With a small sigh, the older man commented, "So you're still denying it."

"Denying what?" Al asked, his gaze clearly annoyed.

"Because you're still trying to get everything back to the way it was, you're denying how much you have here, and how much _hasn't_ changed," Roy clarified.

"With Ed being a murderer now, exactly what hasn't changed?" the younger blond almost bit out.

"By having joined the Amestrian Military, he was defined as a murderer by a large portion of the population. Why is it different now?"

"Because before, he had never killed anyone—he would have completely refused to do something so horrible."

Roy was quiet for a minute, then asked, "This is about the 'Deepground Raid', isn't it?"

"Yeah, the 'raid' where Ed went in there to kill victims of torture," Al replied with a defensive glare. "He should have tried to save them, not killed them!"

"I heard about the Raid from Genesis," Roy said quietly. "He had his own perspective of what happened there, but he was seeing it from a short-term victim's side, not the side of a victim who was there for days, weeks, months, or years. Do you know, several of us watched you for those years you were stuck in the suit of armor and wondered more than once if it would be kinder to just end your suffering—to destroy the array holding your soul so you'd be released?"

"What?" the younger man gasped, his eyes wide in shock. "You—would have—?"

"We thought about it," Roy agreed. "Especially after the incident when you actually began to think you were just a fiction of Ed's creation. If you hadn't gotten your head back on straight, thanks to Winry and your brother, we'd have realized your mind was too far gone to retain sanity and taken that action. You were able to recover because you weren't completely gone yet, and you were still able and willing to _try_. It sounds cold to you, doesn't it?"

Al didn't answer, but he looked disturbed, so Roy told him, "You had a very narrow view of the world for a very long time. You couldn't sleep, you couldn't eat, you couldn't feel touch—you were disconnected from everything around you, and the only thing keeping you sane was your ability to still communicate with the people around you. What if _all_ of that had been taken away from you?" He watched the boy for a minute before saying, "And the rift between you and Ed isn't the result of him changing, it's the result of you not accepting those changes."

"You don't get it, do you?" the blond asked in obviously self-righteous anger. "I've lost everything I was trying to get back, and—"

"And I lost everything I had no intention of leaving in the first place," Roy cut him off, glaring as he met the boy's eyes with the sharp gaze he knew unnerved people. "Change takes time to accept, especially when you didn't watch the transition. I know that feeling all too well. Where you're falling short is in trying to pretend the rest of us haven't suffered any losses 'because yours are so much more important and traumatizing.' The reality is that _we're_ the ones who lost the most, not you. Why are _you_ the only one refusing to move forward and live with the consequences of your actions?"

The words made Al look ill as he stared down at his knees. "Why don't you hate me for that? Mei, you, Winry—no one hates me for ruining all your lives!"

"Would you feel better if we did?" the older man asked, actually curious to know the answer. It would tell him a lot about what Al was actually looking for.

"You should," was the boy's reply.

"So you want us to absolve you of the guilt of what you've done by getting angry and lashing out at you," the older man assessed, crossing his arms over his chest, and Al stared at him. "That would _also_ absolve you of any need to deal with things and move forward. No, we're not going to let you do that. Not only does that ruin _our_ lives, but it won't help _you_ to move forward, whether you're absolved of guilt or not. Don't try to make _us_ responsible for _your_ behavior, and especially don't try to make _Eden_ responsible for your behavior. You made a mistake and it went worse than it should have, but now, every time you deny this new reality we have to live in, you're making mistake after mistake. Even for a child, that trend has to end eventually. You can hurt yourself all you like, but we won't help you do it, or worse, do it for you like you're trying to get us to do."

The sharp words stung Al much worse than he would have thought possible, and he didn't actually know how to react to them besides partial awareness and partial denial. "But if no one—punishes me to make me realize it's wrong, won't that just be like saying it wasn't wrong?" he tried.

"You know very well it was wrong or you wouldn't be trying to make us discipline you," the older man pointed out. "But you're missing the fact that you've _already been_ disciplined." When Al looked at him in genuine confusion, he said, "Everything that's changed. Your brother, the world, everything you've lost. For trying to retrieve Ed when you knew that was impossible, you instead lost everything—including the familiarity of your own brother, the one person you had always known best. Isn't that enough of a punishment for you to start moving forward from?"

For a long time, Al just stared off into space, trying to sort out the point the older man was making. Finally, he said quietly, "You're telling me to—forget about him."

"No. I'm telling you to grow up like he has, to accept that he's changed and that you're going to change, too. You can still be brothers, you can still care about one another and share things with one another—but you can't stay attached at the hip anymore. Ed doesn't care any less about you than he ever did, but your paths are now different—he's taken a path you can't follow him on if you want to stay sane. Stop trying to get back that past and realize that what _you_ sacrificed to find your brother again was the fact that you wouldn't be finding the same brother you were looking for. Learn to live your own life, too. Just like all the _rest_ of us are doing."

After a long silence, the blond gave a hint of a smile which might have been faintly amused as he said, "Somehow, I feel like Hawkeye should be the one telling me this, not you."

"Does that make it any less valid?" Roy asked in a dry tone.

"...It still means I have to let Ed go...He's Eden now..."

"And that's hard because of your borderline obsession with one another."

"Obs—it wasn't obsession!" Al glared at the man, then blushed when Roy raised a brow.

"It was obsession. We all knew that. At the time, it was the only thing keeping you both sane," the older man stated, pointing at the device on the table between them. "Now, he's let go of it and is still sane, but you have yet to do the same. Building your own friendships will help you do what you most need to—move forward." He then rose. "For now, just think for awhile. There are a lot of people around who you can talk with, so don't be afraid to ask for us if there's something you need to talk about." Roy then left, leaving Al alone.

Rather than thinking about anything right then, Al picked up the device and absorbed himself in the game. He didn't _want_ to face anything Roy had said. The man couldn't be right, just like Mei couldn't be right. He didn't want to go down that route, didn't want to let go of the brother and the life he'd always known. The 'price' he'd paid to find his brother was to lose Amestris, not finding a brother he didn't recognize anymore, and he still wanted to hope that Ed would suddenly come to his senses—or that he'd wake from this really strange nightmare.

For some time, he tried to play the game and just not think, but that only worked for a fairly short time. When he realized the game wasn't holding his attention, he retrieved his papers for the project Ed had given him to work on.

Everything was different. The school, the resource materials in the library, the people, the social structure. Things he'd always taken for granted had changed, and it had taken meeting his brother again to realize just how different they were. The game was just a reminder of all the changes in the technology. So far, he hadn't been exposed to a huge amount of the available technology on Gaia, but he sort of knew that wouldn't last, and the device he played the game on was just one blatant example of a visible change. A change he'd accepted easily. Maybe too easily.

What _hadn't_ changed was alchemy.

After the incident when they had tried to bring their mother back to life, they had both decided the world's only truth was science and alchemy. It had rules and limits, things it just couldn't do, and it was unchanging. That wasn't to say new uses for it couldn't be developed, but the rules were always the same, even when applied differently. Since everything which was different couldn't distract him at the moment, he thought the stability of alchemy itself would do the trick.

It worked, and he was able to absorb himself in all the familiarity of the things he was used to.

 **Notes:**

I had to have something to show some of what Mei is actually gaining by being on Gaia, because she's probably the one who lost the most, and who had less than the others to start with. This also shows her first incident of accidental activation of her Healers' skills.

Don't worry—Al will eventually get over this, but it wouldn't be realistic for him to do so in a little over a week. He's got a lot to work through, and it's all tied together, so just separating any one thing out of the whole is rather difficult. The more he sorts out, the more use he has to the story. :P

(1) This particular memory is actually important to the story, but it ends up being too long to include directly as a flashback, so I did an accompanying interlude for it.

(2) Wutains are definitely an odd group out. Based on FFVII/FFX/X-2 canon, there are 2 points made clear:

1) The Cetra are the only race native to Gaia, and they are Caucasian.

2) There are no Asians on Spira. While there are some clothing similarities to Asian clothing, none of the Spiran collection of features fits an Asian look—they're all variations of anything but.

If both of those points are true, then exactly where did Wutains come from? Based on FFVII canon—there is absolutely NO feasible reason or explanation for why they're there. The only two actual possible explanations based on FFVII canon both involve at least one other world.

First, more than one group of star-travelers from different worlds could have arrived on Gaia not too far apart in time. While possible, there's no canon evidence of this (the only evidence provided is that of the Spirans), and even the whole structure of Wutain society shuns technology with only a few exceptions, so it's highly unlikely they used technology to get to Gaia.

The second, and more likely, option would then be a method other than technology to arrive on Gaia, say some sort of magical portal. Wutains, being highly spiritual, would have had a better grasp of (and willingness to use) something of that nature. However, it also has no canon evidence, only a higher likelihood of being the more feasible option.

Then we get to my backstory about both Gaia and Ed's world, in combination with the canon data. First, to clarify one point so I can simplify things as I go: there is some evidence in FMA/FMA:B/FMA manga that Earth (China/Japan/our actual world) and Ed/Al/Mei's world (Xing/Japan/Xerxes/Amestris, which was never named as a whole) are essentially parallel dimensions with a branching point sometime around the formation of Xerxes on Ed/Al/Mei's world. This means it's also 'Earth', and I'll be calling it that in single quotes to show that I'm not talking about our Earth.

It was noted earlier in the story that Gaia and 'Earth' exchanged people, notably some of the Cetra having definitely gone to 'Earth', resulting in their having Cetra genes in the first place. On that same token, it's highly likely people from 'Earth' also went to Gaia for various reasons, and there are plenty of historical accounts of mass exoduses from various nations—many of those (or something similar) could also have happened in Xing/Japan. This would mean their arrival on Gaia pre-dated the Spirans' arrival, and was the reason the Cetra already knew the people who had arrived in the space ships would need infusions—many more of the initial Spirans would have survived than of the initial Xingese/Japanese. On a side-note—one of the very ancient names for Japan is 'Wu'.

The Xingese/Japanese then chose to mostly isolate themselves to preserve their culture, which created an amalgamation of the cultures which crossed over. For the most part, they seem to follow Japanese language/culture/traditions, but in some cases have very strong input from China/Xing in all of those aspects. Let's just start with the obviously Japanese names the vast majority of Wutains have (including the fact that 'Wutai' itself is a Japanese name), but then the oddity of 'Tseng' and the 'Da Chao' Statue, which are obviously Chinese/Xingese names, and some obviously Chinese cultural beliefs. Those are what make Wutai unique unto itself.

Unlike the Spirans, they got along better with the Cetra and the Planet (the 'veins of the dragon' probably have a lot to do with that!), and try much harder than Spirans to protect it, but being somewhat insular also meant they weren't major players in the world—until Shinra began stepping on their toes directly.

Anyway, that's my explanation for the existence of Wutains, and I'll stop talking now.


	34. Interlude--Mei's Adventure

**A/N:** This is what Mei was thinking about while waiting for Tseng in chapter 30 (33 by FFN's numbering). I called this an 'interlude' and didn't include it literally in the main story because with timing things, this really didn't fit (it would have happened around the time Eden was in Gongaga with Balto back in Catalyst Array), and it became too long to have as a flashback in a chapter—it's practically a chapter by itself. This is actually fairly important data, and there are a couple notes at the end, the latter actually important. It also leads in to something which will happen in a couple chapters.

Interlude—Mei's Adventure

Mei had felt stifled since they'd gotten to the city about a week ago. Why were the Briggs men—and even Amal—so determined to keep the three children so close to them, and to the warehouse? She felt a little guilty about disappearing on them as she made her way across the rooftops in the direction of the nearest pillar holding the device above their heads up. If what they'd seen from outside the city was true, that 'plate' had another city on top of it, and she was curious, she wanted to explore this new place!

She reached up to her shoulder to pat Xiao Mei and make sure she was safe—then halted as pain crossed her eyes at not touching her 'sister'. She remembered. Xiao Mei wasn't brought through the portal with them. Mei had never been very lonely because of Xiao Mei, but now, she was alone, the only Xingese person in their group with no one she'd been close to before then. Well, of them all, she was closest to Amal and Alphonse, but she would never be as close to anyone as she'd been to Xiao Mei.

Shaking that off, she kept moving across rooftops and junk heaps until she got to the pillar. There were actually several 'pillars' around Midgar—the city would have collapsed under its own weight if they didn't have so many. She wasn't going to go near the core pillar, since it was better-guarded than the others and there were security checkpoints up and down the sides of it. There were the eight pillars in the middle-ish of each of the eight segments of the 'plate' above, and those took the majority of the weight. Then, there were the eight pillars at the outer edges of the city, each supporting the edges of two segments, as well as a strange building that spewed green smoke.

Once close to the pillar nearest the warehouse, she paused to scan the surroundings, and quickly found guards around the fence at the base of the pillar, but none on the stair leading to the top of it.

Too easy!

With one mighty leap from her perch, she reached a pile of loose debris, which she quickly knocked down with a clatter as she hopped to the next pile and ducked behind it, moving around it to the far side of the commotion the guards were making as they moved to check the noise. They were all still where she'd knocked the debris down by the time she was back around the side she needed to be on to reach the pillar, so quickly bolted to the fence, climbed it, dropped to the ground on the far side, and ran for the stairs. She knew she didn't have long, so circled the pillar only to the far side of where they would be coming back from, then used some rope and a hook (1) from her bag to climb straight up.

By the time the guards were returning to their positions on that side of the pillar, she'd scaled three rungs of the stair, retrieved her rope and hook, and waited about half an hour for them to settle in again. After that time, she softly walked up the steps, making sure to check the guards' positions and make sure they weren't looking up at the pillar as she rounded that side. It didn't take that long to reach the top, which actually had something like a monitoring station built against it, but no one was there. Since she was in the clear, she turned her gaze to the bottom of the 'plate'.

It wasn't well-made, full of holes, pipes, beams, and open space which probably led into some sort of maintenance or sewer system. It was exactly what she needed to go further up, so she pulled out the rope and hook again, throwing the hook up to catch on one of the beams near her. She had to try twice to get it to catch, but it didn't take her long to get up onto the beam once it had, and after retrieving the rope and hook, Mei was able to get her balance on the beam and walk across it to the network of other beams and pipes she could climb.

She almost asked if Xiao Mei was up to the challenge of the climb before remembering with another pang of sorrow that the panda wasn't there anymore.

A small sigh left her lips as she realized she really would have to adapt to that quickly or she would make a serious mistake. It was likely Xiao Mei was still alive, and she thought someone would probably take care of her or take her back to Xing, but she probably wasn't going to see her again any time soon now that they were stuck in this unfamiliar city obviously far from Amestris. In the meantime, she had things she could do for fun, and one of those was getting up to the city above, and she'd be able to tell Xiao Mei all about it when she got home. (2)

That focus brought her back to reality and she started climbing. Some of the pipes were slick or slimy, but most of them were dry and dirty with a gray-green dust. They weren't hard to climb, and she could fit through many very narrow spaces until she came to a network of beams which led to an obvious walkway made of grate-like metal sheets. No one was on the walkway, so she dropped softly onto it and followed it to a hatch, which in turn led to a small room with a normal door to one side, a heavy, locking door to the other, and a ladder against the wall to her left. The far door, by the smell coming from the other side, led to the sewers, and it sounded like cars were going by above her, so she went to the ladder.

It was quick work to climb it, and pushing the lid of the manhole to the side—it was _heavy_ , though—revealed her to be in an alley not far from a main street. Climbing out through the space she'd cleared—she'd moved the manhole lid halfway off the manhole—she approached the street curiously, seeing many people walking by who were fairly well-dressed, and a lot of cars on the road. Even in Amestris, she had only ever seen so many cars in Central, so she thought this city was a major capital. What shocked and dazzled her were the brightly glowing, vivid lights everywhere she looked.

With a grin, she dusted herself off, then joined the throng of people walking by, looking around curiously as she walked through the streets, picking out landmarks to find her way back as she went. Travel between Xing and Amestris had taught her to always find landmarks, just in case, and the bright lights actually made that really easy. How were they making those lights in those kinds of colors, though?

That was a thought for another day, especially as she felt a hand on her shoulder. She gave a little 'eep' and turned to look at—a medium brown haired woman who was in her twenties, and a man with slightly paler hair who was of a similar age. (3) They both smiled at her, gazes faintly amused, as the woman held out something cold in a rather large paper cup and with a spoon in it to her.

"Here, have a treat, Sweetheart," the woman said, still smiling.

"Oh...Are you sure?" Mei asked the woman in surprise.

"Of course," she agreed, chuckling a bit.

"...Uh..." the girl blinked, at first not sure she should. But then, it suddenly just _felt_ like it was okay, so she smiled and gently took the cup as she said, "Thank you!" The woman stood straight as Mei tested it, and grinned as the girl 'mmmm'ed', then said, "It's really good!" Mei could taste something very sweet with a hint of vanilla, something which reminded her of chocolate cookies, and some sort of cream, all wrapped up in the icy-cold treat.

"Come sit down and talk with us a bit, please?" the woman requested, and the man with her gave a nod as he motioned to an outdoor table nearby. Since Mei had wandered into an area of small food shops and cafes with outdoor seating, she agreed, and the three sat down there while Mei ate the treat.

It was the man who asked, "How long have you been in Midgar, Miss Wutain?"

Wutain? She blinked, then gave a little shrug and said, "Only about a week? I think it's about that now." Everyone had different names for the same race—even others of similar background tended to use different names depending on their homeland, so she figured 'Wutain' was what these people called Xingese people.

"A week? And your parents let you wander around alone in a city you could get lost in so easily?" the man asked, his and the woman's gazes becoming worried.

Mei made a small face and replied, "They didn't really 'let' me, I wanted to explore, so I snuck out. I've been remembering the places at the corners I've turned so I can find my way back."

The two traded startled looks, then chuckled. "How are you liking Midgar so far, then, Sweetheart?" the woman asked.

Why did she keep calling her that?

"It's interesting. And different," Mei said honestly. "I never saw a—practically a floating city before I came here. There's lots to see, and so much really bright light that there wasn't back home. I like it, but I'm lonely without my friends and all the rest of my family."

"Moving always takes time to adapt to," the woman said kindly. "Someone obviously taught you the language very well before you left Wutai, so your family had probably been planning to come here for a few years, am I right?"

"When I first started taking lessons, not really. They wanted me to know so I'd be able to get along no matter where I was or who I met," the girl replied, remembering her lessons with Xiao Mei fondly. "But things changed and we sort of..." She drifted off, not sure how to finish what she was saying.

The woman reached over to pat her head, gaze understanding. "You'll need to start dressing like someone from Shinra soon, otherwise some very bad people may try to kidnap you, even if you're here with Shinra's approval and support."

"Why would they kidnap me?" she blinked in surprise.

The man and woman traded looks again, then the man said, "There's a slave market in Shinra lands, and the people who are usually taken as slaves are Wutains due to your 'exotic' looks. The problem is worse in the Slums, but it's still a danger to Wutains living on the Plate."

"...Oh..." Mei blinked, staring in shock and realization. Now she knew what the Briggs men and the other adults had been so worried about—the slave trade. It had existed in Xing and Amestris as well, but it had never threatened her directly.

"Be careful from now on, okay, Sweetheart?" the woman cautioned her.

"I will. Thank you," the girl answered.

They talked for awhile longer, then Mei headed away to explore more—she may not have another chance, after all—and soon found most areas of the upper city were just like what she'd already seen. She also paid more attention to her surroundings and realized she was being followed, a fact she didn't like after the friendly couple's warning. It didn't take her long to figure she should pull a disappearing act and turned down an alley, then quickly running down it until she came to another one crossing it, where she turned again, then soon came out onto a street. From the street, she found another alley and repeated the process again twice more.

Then, when she turned into the last alley which would take her to the next street, she suddenly stopped to stare at what she was seeing.

To one side of her, on the wall of the building, was a large array like the Amestrian alchemy ones. If she was reading some of the key elements correctly, it would create heat, fire and burning—a lot of it, hot enough to cremate almost anything. She was suddenly thankful alchemy and alkahestry didn't work in Midgar. Its lowest point was about an inch above the ground, and its highest was just about where she'd be able to reach if she stretched her hand above her head—it was arranged for someone about her height to look at or use.

Closing her eyes, she let her senses open, looking for other people nearby. She found one maybe ten feet from where she stood, and opening her eyes to look in that direction showed a pile of three crates just past a door in the building wall. Quietly, she moved to the crates and looked around them—to see a boy with brown-blond hair and blue eyes sitting on the ground against the wall. He looked to be about ten and was obviously upset so badly he was trembling, even as he stared absently and helplessly into space. In one of his hands, there was a piece of white chalk, and his fingers were covered in chalk dust.

She crouched in front of him, and his gaze met hers. Mei could see pain and fear there, so she asked, "What's wrong?"

He slowly shook his head, then whispered, "It won't stop."

"What won't?" the girl blinked in surprise.

"Those images I keep seeing...They just—come into my mind, and I don't know what they are, but they won't leave me alone, and more and more of them keep coming, and— _what do I do_?" The last part, he wailed, then broke down crying, pulling his knees up to wrap his arms around them as he wept.

Mei reached out to rub his shoulder comfortingly as she waited for him to calm down—he wouldn't even be able to hear her if she tried to talk to him right then—just waiting patiently until he had stopped crying. When he wiped his eyes, she said, "I've seen those arrays before." His gaze moved up to her in shock, so she said, "That thing on the wall over there, right? That's what you keep seeing in your mind?" She pointed in the direction she'd come, and he gave a nod. "I know what they are."

"You do?" he asked hopefully.

"Yes. Those are 'alchemy arrays'. My people use alkahestry, not alchemy, but I know some about alchemy, if you want to hear it?" she offered.

"I do, please! What am I seeing?" he asked hopefully.

Moving to sit beside him against the wall, Mei said, "Those are scientific and mathematical—rules to make certain things happen. They don't work in Midgar because there's no energy for them to use, but everything they do can be written out in mathematical and scientific equations. Like, the one you put on the wall there would create fire so strong it would cremate the wall you drew it on, along with anything in front of it in its range." His eyes widened in horror, so she quickly went on, "There are lots of types of them, like for healing, fixing poisons or illness, or growing things, too."

"That sounds like Materia spells!" the boy stared in shock. "How do they work?"

"The lines are the equations, like for what it is and how strong it is, and the markings beside them are the rules, like to decide its shape and how long it'll work for," Mei answered, while wondering what 'Materia spells' were. "Why do you draw them on walls instead of a sheet of paper?"

He blinked, then frowned in puzzlement for a moment before saying, "Because they come to me upright like that, not down on a piece of paper."

"So every time they come to you, find a piece of paper and start drawing them there. And keep drawing it until it leaves you alone—you'll probably remember them very well by then," she smiled. "Do what you need to do so you don't end up like this again. I'll come by sometimes to tell you what each of the arrays you drew mean, too."

"Really?" he asked hopefully.

"Of course," she agreed. "We just need a place and a time to meet."

"There's a small park just down there, and there are picnic tables we can sit at until winter comes, if that's okay," the ten-year-old boy offered. "Classes end at four at my school, so I couldn't come before then."

"It sounds great," Mei agreed with a smile. "I can work with that. I'm Mei Chang, by the way."

"Evan Townshend (4)," the boy replied with a small smile. "Let's go over there now. I don't have paper with me, but anything you can answer, I'd like."

"Sure," Mei agreed, pushing herself up and offering him a hand up. They made their way to the park, then sat and talked for some time before Mei decided she should make her way home.

 **Notes:**

In case anyone missed it, this actually means Genesis thought all the arrays were Al's doing and he stopped looking for anyone else—like Evan. FoW and SH both had Evan doing exactly the same thing until he was found by Genesis in FoW and by Mei in SH. Mei found him before Genesis did, so for the last 2-3 weeks Genesis was looking, no arrays were appearing in Sector 6 on the Upper Plate. Mei's path goes something like this: she left from Sector 2, climbed the Sector 2 pillar, traveled into Sector 3 near the core in the scaffolding and pipes, and came up in Sector 3. She then mostly stayed not too far from the core to cross 4 and 5 into 6, meeting the couple near the border between 4 and 5 and losing her pursuers just over the border into 6.

(1) I'm not calling this a grappling hook because it's not one, even if Mei is using it that way. It's literally just a random rope she found tied to a random hook she found, and they are both blatantly obvious, which proper grappling equipment isn't.

(2) This is obviously before she met Ed, so she's still operating on the assumption that they'll all be able to go home eventually.

(3) This couple would be Denzel's parents, who left baby Denzel with a babysitter so they could go out on a romantic date, and found Mei on the way. As a young couple with a child of their own, they would naturally be worried about a child wandering around alone.

(4) Evan Townshend exists in the Compilation of FFVII, in the light novels called "Lateral Biography Turks: The Kids Are Alright". He's about 18-19 in those novels, which happen leading up to Advent Children, and is noted to be, like Lazard, one of President Shinra's illegitimate children—another of Rufus' half-brothers. At this point in time, though, he's only 10, and no one but Evan's mother knows he's at all related to the President, so no one is looking for a link. Maybe some readers remember the note about the cat called Blackie? This is Blackie's owner.


	35. 31-Busy Day

Busy Day

The morning of the dinner party was a rather hectic one for nearly everyone.

Genesis, who had originally been scheduled for a Slums patrol during the party, was called in by Reeve because Winry wanted to attend her first such event in the company of someone who had been to one before. The red haired man was happy with the arrangement, mainly because it meant Sephiroth wouldn't be there on his own, and because Genesis liked to show off, peacock that he was. The result of the request, however, meant he had to quickly update Roy on exactly how to go about fighting monsters which were often Mako-enhanced and had different weaknesses from normal ones. While Roy had figured some of that out already from having lived in the Slums, his going and seeking out the danger was a little different. After giving him a crash course on what he would have to do later, he arranged to send Kunzel with the man in his stead for his first assignment, something Kunzel cheerfully agreed to.

Winry herself had to move at least some of her things to her new office (including plants, as seeds had started growing quickly), which was across the hall from Reeve's, look through the courses for the Academy, and meet the man who was to be her teacher. The man was clearly aged (probably around her grandmother's age) and seemed cheerful about the prospect of teaching someone with obvious skill and a blank slate to start from, since then she wouldn't have to unlearn any 'bad habits' most of the engineers and programmers had acquired. The Academy courses actually surprised her the most, as many of them were rather advanced, and there were three she actually wanted to take. Her one issue was the amount of time those and their homework would cut off her ability to work, but Reeve solved the problem by informing her that, as someone already hired, they would only grade her on tests.

At the same time, Kain Fuery was working with another man in Reeve's department to get a crash course in the technological basics and the communications technology—it surprised both him and Winry to run into one another that day. He was otherwise working steadily to get his skills and knowledge up to par so he could start in his intended department—also because Tseng had given him some classified information which would let him access certain systems for them. Of course, that part no one knew, even though some of the Turks were aware he'd been in a fairly lengthy meeting with Tseng, and had been issued a Turk weapon. He had been visited that morning by the Turk Director to be given a form to sign and a new ID he was only to make people aware of if he absolutely needed the clout.

The kids at the Academy were spending their day preparing for a trip to Kalm the following day, where they would be able to look around the docks and the core of the smaller community. Each class had projects to do while there, ranging from asking locals about the geography or the animals and monsters in the area to examining the docked ships to speaking with the shopkeepers and more. Most of them actually had at least three projects to do while there, so they didn't have much actual sight-seeing time, hence the reason they needed to prepare supplies, questions, forms for observations, and register their student ID's for two meals taken outside the Shinra building. Al, Shalua, and Elena would be going on the trip—then they found out the new group of SOLDIER Cadets were going to be joining them as well, which meant Anthony and Cloud would be in the number for _their_ practice assignment as guards.

Riha and Kamil were working with Ruluf and Freyra respectively to sort out some of their Midgar-based cases while the two new-comers were learning the ropes with their new jobs. After most of the Turks had been sent to search for Fuhito, there were still only a limited number of Turks in the city to take care of their usual watches and cases, and their only saving grace had been how things had gone mostly quiet between the invasion and the support they were getting from SOLDIER and Gaia's Refuge. Of course, that was also problematic and indicated that the city was reaching its boiling point, because a lack of criminal activity meant a cap had been placed and would soon be forced open.

Part of what the four Turks were doing was helping to set up Izumi's new residence with help from Zack and Balto, who were the main ones renovating and decorating the inside of the small home in the Sector 6 Slums. The two Gongagans were plenty busy with that and had been all week, since they had to make it look like someone from their hometown was living there, and there were _always_ certain tells. In the process, they had to get in touch with the folks in their hometown, which resulted in Balto having left for a day to visit them. He had even brought a stack of letters back for Izumi, one for Zack (from his parents), and a fair-sized box of things from the Curtis family for Izumi's home and the kids. The woman would be able to read the letters when she moved in the next day, and Zack and Balto were almost done setting it up for her.

Many of the Turks' trips into the Slums also had them running into Amal and Mick, along with other SOLDIERs and other members of Gaia's Refuge, and on that day in particular, both Amal and Mick were working on keeping the no-man's land between the Sector 5 and Sector 6 Slums clear of monsters. The part Amal was finding both puzzling and intriguing was how he always seemed to know if people, normal animals, or peaceful monsters were being attacked, which was how he found Riha and Ruluf later that same day. Mick himself got his data on attacks from Shears or Felicia, and he in turn had given them a new energy source to research, a form originating from the heat of the earth, or geothermal energy.

Liam Roach had begun his 'training' with the Infantry, only to find that it was far less demanding than the initial training he'd gotten back in Amestris. As a result, he excelled and even began encouraging the other new cadets and privates to work harder, to train with some of the methods he had trained with. That training took up much of his time, but it had singularly impressive results in even just a few days of some of the other newcomers' half-assed attempts at it. Until they had some time to see the improvements in their own abilities, he knew they wouldn't devote themselves to their training (even though their lives depended on it), and some never would do so. It was an unfortunate reality of the world.

With both Genesis and Sephiroth now attending the party and Zack indisposed with his other task, Angeal was left as the only one able to take certain high-level missions, of which he was now assigned—against his will—three of them. He'd have normally taken one, maybe even two, as those two were very near to one another geographically, but now, he had that one day to take care of all three.

Of course, that meant Angeal needed a pilot, and Reno ended up being it, which always somewhat irritated him because the Turk in question mainly presented himself in a very dishonorable and unfavorable light. Even though Angeal knew better (Reno was both more honorable than many people he could name and capable of being surprisingly selfless and intelligent), the whole way Reno effectively insulted himself grated on the SOLDIER's nerves. That, in turn, caused him to grate on Reno's nerves, and the two spent most of the day at one another's throats. At least Angeal could vent on the monsters, though. Reno—was another story.

Of them all, Izumi had the most to do that day with her two new 'kids', as she was finally fit to leave the hospital and start working out the paperwork she needed to. The two children Tseng had said he'd like her to take charge of had been spending most of their time with her as neither had classes to attend and had no specific minders, but she had shown an interest in them. On that day, they were there as they waited for her to be released from the hospital officially, where Tseng met her and led the way up to the Turks' floor—which was occupied only by Rude and Cissnei as they worked on something on the younger Turk's computer.

"I knew there weren't a huge number of Turks, but shouldn't there be more than this?" Izumi asked with a raised brow, resisting the urge to comment about Cissnei's age.

Tseng said easily, "They're nearly all out on missions at the moment, the majority tracking Fuhito. And since I know you don't like seeing someone you view as a child working here—that had nothing to do with me. One of the now-dead old hands from over a decade ago chose her to enter a special trial training program specifically for the purpose of having her become a Turk, but don't think for a moment that she's just mindlessly following orders—she's not."

"I'm not!" Cissnei called in agreement from her seat, still working on her project.

"Why are you even here, let alone somehow _not_ blindly following orders when that's what you were trained to do? And what does your family think about your _job_?"

After a blink, the girl looked up at Izumi and said, "First, I'm an orphan with no known family (1), and second, if I hadn't ended up here when I did, there's a good chance I'd be in the slave market or dead now. As to my not blindly following orders, Mrs. Curtis, I think you need to realize there's a difference between 'blindly' following orders and 'knowingly' following orders. I know what I'm doing and why I'm doing it, and there are plenty of times when I don't like the mission I'm given. Sometimes there's a way around it, sometimes there isn't, but I'm still well aware that I'm making the choice to kill someone, to kidnap or threaten them, to cover up some of Shinra's wrong-doing. That doesn't mean I think it's _right_ , but I've thought further than the immediate 'wrong' and chosen to do what I do because it's an indisputable fact that Shinra has given people better lives than they had and protection from the monsters constantly threatening them."

The woman blinked that time, reminded of Ed's words to her about the monsters, before asking, "Aren't the monsters Shinra creations, too?" While Eden hadn't made it sound that way, others in the Slums had.

"Many of the monsters in the Slums are Mako-enhanced monsters or ones which either escaped or were released from the Labs," Tseng answered, and Cissnei turned back to her screen as Rude scrolled it down some. "Those ones could be described as Shinra creations. Some of the mechanical monsters, like the Custom Sweeper out in the wastes, are also our 'creations' after a fashion, only in the sense that we created a machine which requires a pilot and those ones somehow came alive and got up and walked away entirely on their own power."

Izumi turned to stare at him as Cissnei added, "All the rest of the monsters here—like Behemoths and Dragon Zombies and Guard Hounds, even—those are all natural monsters which we really have no control over."

"SOLDIER's main function is to go out and kill the monsters attacking towns and villages," Tseng went on. "We also get sent on some of those kinds of missions, though in the Turks, we're more likely to be sent to contain an outbreak of experimental monsters rather than of natural ones. Which is actually somewhat odd when we aren't enhanced and are being sent to fight enhanced monsters..."

The children at Izumi's sides started giggling as she huffed. "I don't suppose you have a bestiary or something I can study, then?" she asked.

"I'll send Balto to you in your new home the day after tomorrow with an animal bestiary and a monster bestiary. Maybe an atlas would be prudent as well?" the Wutain man asked curiously.

"That would be a good start," Izumi said. "A Materia list as well, since I plan to get some."

"Leave that to Zack," the man immediately said. "That is, to get you anything you won't be getting today with the equipment we're assigning you. Balto can also include a Materia glossary."

The words made the woman blink and ask, "You're assigning me weapons and other equipment?"

"You're still on _our_ records as a Turk, Mrs. Curtis, even if your current status means your records aren't going past this office," Tseng told her dryly. "That means we provide your gear and keep you supplied with whatever you need. Also, given your status and the danger to the children, all of your clothing has trackers in it—we've recently done this with Eden as well. Our first attempt will be to capture them for information, but if that doesn't work, we'll have to let you, or at least the children, be transported to their destination so we can find their base and put an end to it, hence the trackers. If it looks like we'll have to go that route, your best bet may be to go along with it and let them take you as well so you'll be there to protect them until we can get you three free."

At that moment, the door opened and a haughty voice said, "Tseng, I need you to issue me a firearm since my— _guard_ —won't be with me tonight."

Tseng, Izumi, and the kids looked over at the door to see two blonds there, one in a white suit and one in a black one. "You think General Sephiroth doesn't have the skill to protect you?" the Wutain Turk asked with a raised brow.

"He has no grasp of actual 'guard duty'," the older blond replied. "He'll walk away from me to pursue an enemy without having a means to attack an enemy at a distance."

"I still think you're underestimating him," Eden put in from beside the older blond, gaze amused.

"So you've said," Rufus agreed irritably. "I still would feel more secure with a firearm."

"Do you have the vest we gave you?" Tseng asked curiously, carefully hiding his amusement at Rufus' obvious attachment to Eden. It may have been platonic, but Rufus didn't let many people in, and Tseng and Eden—the younger blond especially—were two of less than five people Rufus was 'close' to.

"Of course," the President's son almost sneered. "I obviously can't walk around without it of late."

When Tseng raised a brow at the blond Turk, Eden lifted his shoulders in a shrug and said, "Nearly every time he's left the Shinra building since I was reassigned to him, someone has either tried to kill him or kidnap him. A couple of those were obviously random, but the others feel like part of a very real danger, and it got so bad that I had to start killing them. We actually made it here safely today after the seven I killed last night. If this keeps up, it may really be the best idea for us to leave Midgar for awhile."

Tseng sighed, then stared as Izumi charged at Eden as she growled, "How dare you make light of killing people, you rotten brat!"

He yelped and dodged out of the way—and when Izumi's fist hit the floor, a section of it cracked and fell onto the floor below, causing the two younger children to gasp in awe, "Wow, amazing!" as someone below shouted in surprise and alarm.

"Uh-oh," Eden muttered with a pained expression as the woman charged at him again. That time, he met her in a flurry of fists and feet for a few moments before Eden began using his spells to attack her as well. It only took a few moments after that before he cast Stop on her, freezing her in place with her shock palpable in her eyes.

Before the blond could even heave a sigh of relief, Rufus—a very irritated-looking Rufus—tapped the woman's shoulder and said, "With all due respect, Madam, not that I particularly think you deserve it right now, Eden _was not happy_ with his actions. I watched him shed tears for those deaths, deaths of criminals who have less honor and kindness for others than he has. You know nothing of the situation, so kindly keep your opinions—and your fists—to yourself."

In the meantime, Tseng had moved over to the edge of the hole and noted a scowling SOLDIER in just his underpants and with freshly-washed hair staring up at him. Sighing, he told the man, "Apologies. We'll have the hole fixed as quickly as possible." It was perhaps not the greatest thing in the world for the SOLDIER First Class rooms to be directly below their offices, but it had never been an issue before.

There was a question in the woman's eyes as she gazed at Eden, so because Haste would normally only counteract Slow, he modified it to remove Stop status. The woman was released and able to regain her bearings as she began testing her limbs, eyes on the younger blond as she asked, "'Shed tears'? You don't cry."

"And killing doesn't really get easier, but both previous times I had to kill, I didn't really have the opportunity to cry, once because I was too exhausted to generate tears and the other because I was unconscious and near-death for a week after. This is the first time I'm killing in an instance where it isn't being postponed, so I couldn't keep it back entirely and a few tears escaped," Eden explained to her, his expression sour. "But I _really am_ running out of options the more dangerous the attackers are, and every time I beat them, the more dangerous they become in their next attempt."

"I'm going to need reports on those attacks, Eden," Tseng told him. "We'll start looking into it as soon as we have them. And Mrs. Curtis, while the Turks will foot the bill for _this_ incident, if you _ever_ destroy things on our floor again, including the floor itself, it'll be coming out of _your_ income, so _don't_ do it again." The Turk then faced Rufus and said, "Cissnei can take you to get a firearm for the evening. Eden can stay here while you're in her care, since I have some papers to give him."

With a nod and a last glare at Izumi, Rufus left with Cissnei, carefully skirting the two-foot hole Izumi had put in the floor about a foot before it exited into the hall. A moment later, Rude's hand landed on Eden's head and the blond closed his eyes as he breathed deeply. He only vaguely heard Teacher question what 'that' was all about, then silence.

"We don't get to visit nearly often enough when we're in Midgar, you know," Eden commented after a moment, turning to look up at Rude.

"We don't. For now."

"You think that will change?"

"It goes on and off."

"I see. That's good to know."

Tseng returned to the room just then and eyed the pair for a moment before sighing and saying, "As adorable as that is, I can't promise you any sort of time to visit with friends and—family—until we've dealt with Fuhito." He approached as Eden faced him with a glare and Rude dropped his hand, expression amused. "Here are the forms you'll need to fill out with your reports—these are the ones Heidegger and President Shinra will see—but we'll be taking our cues and clues from your detailed reports. I'll leave it to you to decide how much to put in those, but if you actually _want_ to go on that trip you mentioned, you're probably better off downplaying the incidences for these."

"Okay," Eden agreed as Rufus and Cissnei returned. The younger blond took the papers from Tseng and, with a sincere thanks to Rude, Eden left with his charge. They were back in the Vice President's office before Izumi and Tseng were done in his office and ready to gather her equipment for her.

SH

That evening saw Eden back at storage room sorting while most of the others were getting ready for their various late-day tasks, though Reno was in as bad a mood as him. The result was that they actually got into a full-fledged fight before Eden got any sorting done, a fight Reno won largely because he fought in a completely random, street-fighter-like style and used Pyramid on him a few times. Rather than beating on the younger Turk while he was bound, he stood back and let Pyramid break before they started fighting again. When Eden asked him afterwards why he did that, he answered with a shrug, "We both needed ta vent, yo, so _real_ fightin' was the better plan."

As for the dinner party, its start time had been registered for six, but people arrived anytime between five-thirty and six-thirty, the earliest arrivals being the President and his son—which, of course, included Sephiroth. Both Rufus and Sephiroth were dressed in their usual clothing, if slightly more refined—Sephiroth had a full, closed shirt under his long coat and Rufus wore a black, button-up blouse with a white tie under his—while most of the other attendees were in vari-colored suits or cocktail dresses. They had prepared for a night of irritation and boredom.

However, when _Genesis_ stepped into the room shortly after six with a broad grin and an attractive blond young woman in a blue dress on his arm, both were flummoxed. The General and President's son traded confused expressions, then made their way over to greet the new arrivals, not noticing the Cait Sith quietly following the pair. Sephiroth asked his red haired friend-brother in confusion, "How in the world did you manage to receive an invitation to such an event, Genesis?"

"Oh, technically, I didn't," Genesis replied in amusement. "But Miss Winry Rockbell is Reeve's new assistant and hasn't been to one of these functions yet, so asked to have a—knowledgeable escort to her first event." He then faced her and said, "Winry, meet General Sephiroth and the President's son, Rufus Shinra."

"It's a pleasure to meet you," Winry said with a smile, offering a hand to Rufus, first. She then blushed as he took it and brought it to his lips while bowing so he could kiss the back of it. Genesis' snickering was ignored, as was Sephiroth's puzzled look.

Standing straight again, but with her hand still in his, Rufus said with more sincerity than the two SOLDIERs had ever heard from him before, "The pleasure is mine, Miss Rockbell. Welcome, and enjoy the evening. If you need or want anything, just let me know and I'll see that you have it." Both of them were still staring into one another's blue eyes, though Winry managed to extract her hand politely and regain her bearings.

"Since it seems chivalry isn't quite dead yet—" the girl began, which just made Genesis start laughing so hard he had to turn away from the pair, "—the one thing I'm not sure I'll get here is an intelligent discussion which doesn't revolve around greed and bragging. Is that something you can see I have, Mr. Shinra?"

"Oh, dear..." Sephiroth sighed.

"Now aren't you glad I'm here?" Genesis smirked beside his friend and brother. "At least you'll have someone to talk with while those two make googly eyes at one another."

"Genesis," Winry's dangerously sweet voice came from the side. A moment later, something very hard and blunt connected with his head and he yelped, making several people turn to look. Everyone could see the wrench in her hand while she left it leaning against the red haired man's head, and it was Rufus' turn to snicker. "Now, you should be more polite to your date, shouldn't you, Commander?" she asked sweetly.

"Yes, Ma'am!" he squeaked, and she lifted the wrench so he could rub his head and turn to face her. "Eden wasn't kidding when he said he was worried about you having a wrench on hand to hit him with," he dead-panned. "Where did you get it, anyway?"

"I always have some of my tools on hand, just in case," Winry replied cheerfully, and everyone (well, everyone who was watching) blinked in surprise as it slid under the arm of her dress, which was just loose enough for it to not be visible unless she turned her arm under-side up. "Now, then, gentlemen, what would you recommend we do first?"

"The meal will be brought out at seven, so socializing is the main function of the first hour or so," Rufus told her. "There are small treats and drinks to sample as well, though I wouldn't recommend most of the drinks unless you're either a heavy drinker or hold your liquor well."

"Neither applies to me, so what drink would be best for me?" the younger blond asked curiously.

A waiter was passing Genesis just then, so he reached over and pulled one of the fluted wine glasses off the waiter's tray and offered it to Winry. "This is a standard wine cooler the President serves at these gatherings, and by the faintly pink color, I believe the central flavor would be a red berry of some sort, or a mixed berry. It's the least alcoholic drink here, and even then, if you aren't familiar with alcohol, you should be cautious of how much you drink until you have food in your stomach."

"Agreed," both Rufus and Sephiroth added.

"I see," Winry murmured, taking the drink and sipping it daintily. She then gave a pleased smile and said, "This is surprisingly good. Thank you for the advice, though, because otherwise it would be all too easy to overdo something which tastes like zesty strawberry juice."

"Shall we find a seat to talk, then?" Rufus asked, offering his arm to her.

"We should," Genesis agreed with a small smirk as he also offered his arm to her.

Winry gazed between the two men offering their arms and an exasperated Sephiroth for a minute before smiling and taking both Rufus' and Genesis' arm at the same time, one in each hand. "Lead the way, then," she happily agreed, feeling very privileged to have been offered both so easily.

They gaped at her for a moment as Sephiroth actually gave a small chuckle and commented, "Well done, Miss Rockbell."

"It's Winry, please, and my only regret is that I don't have a third arm for you," she grinned at him—and he felt his cheeks heat.

Rufus then cleared his throat and said, "This way, then. Some of the most comfortable seats are reserved for my father and myself and those we're in discussion with, so you should enjoy those the most." He proceeded to lead the way to one cluster of the seats he meant.

The rest of the evening was very enjoyable, though many people came over to ask about Winry as she was a new face. Finding out she was Reeve's assistant cleared that up, and by morning, the whole building would know about the attractive (and intelligent) blond woman Reeve had chosen to replace him should anything happen.

 **Notes:**

(1) Cissnei's past is noted to have begun in an orphanage before being taken and trained as a Turk, but there are also implications that she's a legitimate relative of Zack's, even if she was never able to do more than hint at that. Those implications most likely came from her investigating little bits here and there around her work, but we don't know what the actual relationship between Cissnei and the Fairs is—she could be Zack's first cousin for all we know, as we don't know the familial status of Zack's parents (whether those relatives are dead or alive), only that he has no siblings, personally.


	36. 32-Homecoming

Homecoming

The day after the dinner party, Ed's PHS rang while he was reading and Rufus was doing some paperwork at home. At the ring tone, Dark Nation rose and padded over to Eden, even as Rufus looked up at him with a small frown, but when Ed saw Al's number, he was quite confused. Given the time, they would have been in Kalm right then on their field trip, and they had assignments to work on as well, so something pretty serious had to have happened.

Answering the phone, the Turk asked, "What's wrong?"

"Hey, Ed, I know you're working right now, but there's something I wanted to ask you about because it's been bothering me since we got to Kalm," Al said, his tone worried.

"What's that?" the older brother asked with a small, puzzled frown of his own.

"Our books said Kalm has been here since about a hundred years ago—but all the homes look like they were built maybe a couple years ago. When we ask questions of the people about things from more than a few years ago, their answers get more and more vague. Sometimes, they even get mad and send us away. Even the kids sometimes act strangely when we ask questions. Eden, what's going on here?"

Eden blinked and shut his eyes as he visualized the town as he'd seen it not too long ago on his way into Midgar. It wasn't that he hadn't known in some part of his mind, but he had never seriously thought about the details before—and both Elrics were familiar with seeing old and new buildings, seeing them next to one another to know the signs of age. Kalm truly showed none of them, not in the wood of the buildings or the stone of the walkways. He'd never seen the docks, but if they were anything like the rest of the town, they would look new, as well, and for _the people_ to have issues talking, there was a good chance Kalm was a large-scale cover-up. If that was true, there was no way he was going to touch it or he'd be risking his own life and position with the Turks, something he couldn't risk right then.

"Al, as much as you may want answers about Kalm, you won't get them unless Tseng humors you. That's _if_ he even knows, because it may have been Veld who had anything to do with it, and if I was you, I'd want to leave that alone until the current administrators are out of power," he finally told his brother, and Rufus blinked at the words.

For a moment, Al was quiet, but then he sighed and said softly, "I was afraid of that. Well, it told me what I wanted to know, in a way, and now I'm starting to see what you warned me about." He paused, then apparently shifted something on the other side of the phone before saying, "A lot of people had to've died. It shows. How do you change a society or a world where one person has this much power?"

Sighing, Eden told him, "Very carefully from the inside. Now, please try to enjoy the rest of your trip before you say something which may endanger you, because there's a good chance the villagers aren't actually friendly to your observations."

With a small chuckle, the younger blond out in Kalm said, "Fine. Sorry to bother you, but I just...needed _some_ thing. Thanks." He then hung up abruptly, so Eden had a suspicion that one of the townspeople had been approaching him.

"The firebombing of Kalm," Rufus stated as Eden hung up, making the younger blond look up at him in surprise. "I don't know the details, but apparently, they were after terrorists and Veld directed them to bomb Kalm while all the people were still there."

After a very long silence, the blond Turk asked slowly, "Why do you know that?"

"Veld had to be taken for medical care—it's how he ended up with a cybernetic arm. Once the survivors had been moved, they rebuilt the town and moved what were effectively actors into it to make it look as though nothing had changed. Every stone, every plank of wood, every child's toy, was replicated as closely as they could manage, but obviously, they couldn't fake things like familial ties, so the 'family' were either paid or threatened to keep their silence. Most vanished, a few held funerals for their dead family, others..."

"...The ones who vanished weren't Shinra's doing or you'd have grouped it in with the last option you didn't finish," Eden commented.

"They weren't," Rufus agreed. "Some of them have probably joined various terrorist groups since January ninety-seven, most notably AVALANCHE. I think many of the ones who went with Fuhito when he left the group were from incidences like that."

"...That's pretty screwed up."

"And I'm only sharing what I know with you because you Turks have records of it."

"Good. As long as I don't tell Al, we'll both be fine."

Rufus raised a brow at the snarky tone Eden was using and pointed out, "If you know that, you'll be fine." He then rose and said, "I need to head to the Shinra building to meet Reeve and Felicia."

Eden also rose and the two headed out, Dark Nation whining as he was left in the mansion again. Since snow had begun falling gently, a fact which actually amazed Eden given the heat generated by the city, neither human was eager to be outdoors for long.

SH

It was afternoon the day after the party and Izumi was with Balto, Ken, and Naomi as the Turk led the way to her new home with the children. Most of the Slums was either shanty-shacks or poorly-built and very old buildings, but there were some areas in each of the Sectors with somewhat better housing than most. Such areas were generally near the Sector's shopping center, and Sector 6 was no exception—just outside Wall Market was a section of housing in a more reasonable state, normally belonging to successful Wall Market criminals or businessmen. Of course, the two words were normally synonymous in the Slums, but...

Balto opened the door to the house they'd set up for Izumi and her new charges, one which was between two honest businessmen, saying, "Here we are. Take a look around and tell me if there's anything in particular you need, Aunt Izumi."

For as 'honest' as any of the businessmen were, the two nearest her were the least likely to take exception to her presence, and the woman immediately noted how these homes were some of the few not showing signs of mold or damage. There wasn't a lot of space around the front or sides of the home, but there was a section behind the house which could have qualified as a 'back yard' of nothing but dirt. She and the two kids walked from room to room, her assessing and Naomi and Ken curiously. All three bedrooms were fairly small, barely enough for the bed and a closet, but the decorations in each room clearly showed which two were for the kids.

In the kitchen, Izumi stopped to stare at the box on the table and the stack of letters beside it, then scanned the room for anything which might be missing. Balto was watching her from the door to the room, so she asked, "Does it matter which room Naomi and Ken take?"

"They've already decided that, you know," Balto said in amusement, and she turned to look at him curiously. "Apparently, your kids have latent Gongagan blood anyway, because Naomi and Ken both naturally took the rooms Zack and I set up for them."

"And what's this box and the letters?" she blinked, lips quirking in amusement.

"Welcome and greeting gifts from the Curtises and other relatives in Gongaga," he said in mild amusement, giving a small shrug. "The letters are mainly greetings. From what I gather, they're passing on to you some of the traditional things all Curtises from Gongaga have in their homes. Your name and situation alone means you're family."

With a blink, Izumi asked, "They'll take in a stranger so easily?"

"Of course," he smirked. "Didn't you know? They took in Eden for no known or fathomable reason, and he doesn't even have a name we'd take as family. Small towns are quite friendly that way, though not normally to the point they are with Eden and you. So, you may have lost your husband, but you've gained a rather large extended family, and will be more than welcome in Gongaga if you ever visit. Some of them indicated to me they might come visit you here after the spring planting is done."

The woman gave him an amused look and said, "As long as they give me warning they're coming." She then paused and turned to face the window above the sink, asking, "Are you really fine with me and this situation?"

His brow rose and he said simply, "Maybe you don't realize this, Auntie, but as soon as Tseng introduced us and told us about the situation, both Zack and I made a choice to take you as actual family. Not because it's our jobs or what you and my new cousins have agreed to do for us, but because you _need_ us to be your family."

"I'm not a weakling who needs some strong men to take care of me!" she bit out in anger.

Balto's brow cocked slightly, and he replied evenly, "That isn't what I said."

She stared—or glared—at him for a long time before Ken appeared at the man's side, tugging on his hand as he said eagerly, "Come and see my new toys!" Balto let Ken tug him into the room the boy had been given.

Izumi sighed and turned to the box and the letters, deciding to check the latter first. She took the first one and opened it, skimming it without expecting much—then realizing she needed to go back and read the letters properly. The first one she picked up was signed by Marian and Theodore Fair—Zack's parents, she guessed—and was so loaded in such a small amount of writing that she had to read it several times, slowly, as she assessed it.

 _Hello there, Izumi!_

 _Balto and Zack have told us about what happened with you and your children, and asked that we all lend a hand helping you settle in now that you've chosen to stay in Midgar. Family is family, and by the sounds of things, you need a strong family to back you so you can find yourself again. What you've been through—you've already shown your strength, courage, and kindness, and we want to make things a little easier._

 _Since that's what we're going to do, we sent Balto back to you with some nice shawls for you and your children! Let us know if you need anything else. Marian does a lot of sewing and knitting, and I do some woodworking, so if we're able, we'll send you whatever you ask for._

 _By the way, since you're out in Midgar, take care of Zack for us! He's a good boy, you know, but he has a bad habit of getting into trouble just like a puppy._

 _Marian and Theodore Fair_

Slowly, she set that letter down and picked up the next one. It was much the same, but from the Balfour family. A third and fourth ones were from Curtises by that name, and a fifth was from another family in the area, the Saldeans. There was still over half the stack, and for some reason, her hands were shaking slightly as she tried to process the simple and heart-felt letters. A small hand crossed her vision to take one of the letters she'd already set down, and she looked up to see Naomi reading it.

"They sound nice. Can we meet them sometime—Mom?" the girl asked, the last word said a little tentatively.

Izumi gave her a small smile and said, "We'll see. Not right away, but maybe in spring or summer."

Naomi paused, then asked, "Am I allowed to read them?"

"Go ahead. Start with the open ones, since I still need to read the rest," the older woman agreed, knowing there was nothing especially 'personal' in them, then set down the most recent one she'd read and picked up the next one in the stack to keep reading them.

They all professed her as family, and almost all validated it with something which _wasn't_ her name. They also nearly all sent something back with Balto, and they all told her what they were skilled at so she knew who to ask if they (she and the kids) needed something. No one was shy about having them in their lives, and they all seemed to be saying the same thing as Balto—that they wanted to be her family because she needed one.

For most of her life, it had just been her and Sig. Yes, she'd spent time with other children in town, taken care of them to some degree, but especially after her son's birth—and death—she'd kept herself apart from everyone but Sig and her two foolish apprentices. Her lips quirked. All the rest of her family had been dead, so those three had been all she'd had for family, and while Sig had family, he had been estranged from all but one of them. She had now just been made aware that maybe being so isolated wasn't always the best thing for a person.

"So, are you still angry with me for something I didn't say?" Balto asked in faint amusement. She looked up to see him at the door again, Ken nowhere to be seen, and Naomi looking up from where she was working her own way through the letters.

Setting down the last letter, the woman gave her head a shake and said, "I haven't had any sort of family outside my husband and the brothers for—most of my life. The only references I have to them is—parents taking care of their children, so I had thought you felt I couldn't even take care of myself. I had never thought it could just be...companionship or a shoulder to lean on when needed. I'm not used to having so many open offers of help and friendship and declarations of family."

He nodded. "You'd better tell them your skills and at least say you'll let them know if you need something when you write back." When the older woman gave him an amused look, he went on, "Be cautious and keep your attention on your surroundings when you go out. Wall Market won't be a safe place to live at the best of times, but you won't be going into something which qualifies as 'at the best of times'. We did our best to pick neighbors for you who would most likely just ignore your presence, but everyone else has the potential to be a problem, even just by saying the wrong thing to the wrong person. It sure won't be dull living here. And make sure you get in touch with us if you ever think you'll be up against too many or something you may have trouble with—even Sephiroth sometimes can't take on something alone, and he's the single strongest person you'll ever find."

"I'll keep that in mind, then," she answered. "Are you staying for supper?"

"Do you want me to? We'll need to shop for food if there's something you have in mind," the Turk returned.

"...I guess I'd better start getting used to my nephews being around. Let's go shopping, then," Izumi replied dryly, rising. She then paused and asked, "By the way...if I hadn't agreed to this, would you have felt the same way about me?"

"Probably," Balto told her plainly. "We were being introduced for your background, not your help."

She snorted. "Naomi, Ken, we're going shopping so we'll have food for supper!" she called—and gave a faint smile as Naomi took one of her hands and Ken ran to her from his room to take the other hand, babbling a mile a minute about his room and toys.

When it was all over, she wouldn't mind just living and being their mother.

SH

Two days after Al had visited Kalm with his yearmates, he, Elena, Shalua, and Tifa were just leaving the Shinra building after class when a familiar voice called, "Hey, Al, wait up!" The group turned to see Zack almost bound out of the building and down the stairs to them. He halted in front of the blond and said, "I was going to go visit Aunt Izumi. Want to join me?"

"'Aunt'?" Al asked in bemusement, wondering what someone had forgotten to tell him.

"Of course," Zack grinned. "So, do you want to see the place, and meet Naomi and Ken? You haven't yet."

"Who are Naomi and Ken?" the blond blinked in surprise.

"Her kids, of course," the First replied with something bordering on a smirk.

For a moment, Al paused, then nodded and agreed, "Sure. I haven't seen her since that day in the hospital."

"Come on, then," the black haired man grinned again, waving the younger teen to his side. Al split away from the girls and joined him, taking the train down to the Slums and walking towards Sector 6, where they had gone to get the PHS's. As they reached the sort-of playground in no-man's land, they saw a familiar brown haired young woman talking to a boy of about nine.

"Aeris!" Zack cheered, bounding to her side and causing her to stand up straight and smile at him.

"Zack! What are you doing down here today?" she asked curiously. The younger boy thanked her and ran away quickly.

"Visiting my aunt. Come on," he cheerfully told her, wrapping an arm around her shoulders as she giggled. He then called to Al, who had started lagging, "Don't get too far behind or you'll get lost, Al!" Feeling like a third wheel, Al caught up to them, following as Zack led the way through Wall Market and to some housing off to the side of it, where he went to one house and knocked on the door.

After a moment, the door opened a bit and a small, dark eye peeked out—and the door was thrown open wide by a smiling five-year-old who jumped to hug Zack as he said, "Zack! I found the sling! Come see what I can do!" He then grabbed Zack's hand and pulled him inside.

"Whoa, hold up there, buddy," Zack chuckled, lifting his hand straight up—and lifting the boy's feet off the floor at the same time. The boy shrieked and laughed, dangling—apparently quite happily—off Zack's hand. Then, a hand came down on the back of his head as he yelped, "Ow!"

"Zack, don't encourage them to shriek like that," a familiar, cross voice said from Zack's other side, near the kitchen doorway. Al looked up to see Izumi there, looking a cross between annoyed and confused.

"It's not my fault he thinks this is practically a carnival ride," Zack grinned, lowering his hand so the boy's feet were on the ground again.

"Come on! Come play with me!" the boy begged, still tugging on Zack's hand.

"After I get some introductions over with," the black haired SOLDIER agreed with a wide grin.

"What's an intro—du—what?" the boy asked with a puzzled frown.

"So, I know Al, but who's the young lady?" Izumi asked, looking faintly amused as Zack stared in surprise at the boy.

"Oh, Aeris is my girlfriend!" Zack said cheerfully. "Aeris, meet my aunt, Izumi Curtis."

Aeris put her hands on her hips and fake-pouted as she asked, "When did you go and decide that, Mr. Puppy?"

"Awww..." Zack whined. "Not you, too..."

Izumi gave a snort and said, "Apparently, even your parents associate you with a puppy—one who always gets into trouble." She then looked at Aeris and asked, "So what are you _really_ to him?"

The girl paused, gazing thoughtfully at the pouting, pleading SOLDIER, then gave a grin and said, "I'm Aeris Gainsborough, Zack's girlfriend," to Izumi.

"Yes!" Zack cheered, throwing a fist in the air and pulling a giggling Aeris into a hug. He then let her go and said, "I've got to go with Ken to test his slingshot, so—have a good visit with my aunt until I can join you again!"

"Yay!" the boy cheered, pulling Zack away as Izumi gave a snort.

"You shouldn't encourage men like that," the older woman told the younger in a dry tone. "If you give them an inch, they'll take a mile."

"Oh, but because it's Zack, I don't actually mind—I have a crush on him anyway, and he's the only one I've really been serious about. And the only one who had an interest in me who my brother hasn't killed yet."

"Which 'brother'?" Al asked sharply.

"That's Tseng's doing," Aeris chuckled. "He saved me from slave traders a few times by doing it, too." Al gaped at her in surprise, and she gave him a _look_ as she asked in an oh-so-innocent tone, "Oh, were you going to blame Eden for killing terrible men who would have hurt me?"

Al flushed red as Izumi commented, "Aeris, huh?" The brown haired girl looked at her, so she smiled and said, "Clever. Well, if you're okay with Zack's behavior, I won't interfere unless you ask me for help. If he ever does something you don't like, tell me right away, okay?"

"Sure, I can do that," Aeris smiled. "Is there anyone else here I need to meet?"

"Naomi is probably with Zack and Ken if you want to head down to the door at the back over there?" Izumi offered, pointing her down the hall towards the back of the small house. Aeris grinned, nodded, and headed away. Izumi's shrewd eyes moved to Al, and she was silent for a minute before saying, "So you still aren't ready to let go of the old Ed."

"...I..." he began, then stopped, knowing there was nothing he could say to her which would get him a different reaction from what he'd gotten from Mustang.

She reached out a hand to wrap it around the back of his neck, then gently pulled him into a hug. "Al, do you want to see the records the Turks have of Deepground? Would that help you move forward?"

Al drew in a sharp breath and asked into her shoulder, "You have something like that _here_?"

"I looked into it, too, after what you said in the hospital that day. I read the whole file, everything on what sent them in there, what they did there, who they saved, even records of therapy they've had to go through. It was painful. Do you know what was the most painful thing about the data they had gathered?"

"...What was that?" the younger blond asked tentatively.

"That they didn't have the means to find and deal with Deepground sooner," the woman told him.

A long silence followed, then Al sighed softly. "You agree with them, then?"

"I do. They did the only thing they _could_ do with people who had nothing left to fix anymore. It was painful for the Turks, too, and Eden got off easy by being unconscious for a week afterwards—he may not be sane now if he hadn't had the time to put space between those events and himself before trying to face it. The Turks would have put him on suicide watch if he hadn't already been effectively on that very thing while trying to recover from his injuries."

Al lifted his head to stare at her in surprise for a minute, then slowly nodded. "He...must have been in pretty bad shape, then, if they put a note like that in their data."

Izumi gave him a small, sad smile. "So, since you're here, come and tell me about the things you've been doing lately."

The fifteen-year-old gave a small smile and agreed, "Yeah."

They moved to the living room to talk until Ken, Naomi, Zack, and Aeris rejoined them—and the first thing Aeris asked was, "By the way, Al—have you been told to get a bunch of seeds, yet?"

Al made a face and answered, "Tseng and Mei have both talked with me already, thanks." (1)

"Seeds for what?" Izumi asked in bemusement, Zack and the two kids staring at them in surprise.

Aeris told her about the Cetra and some of their skills, then said, "Winry and Mr. Mustang thought you would be a Sentinel, so you won't randomly grow flowers or trees or anything. Mei is a Healer like me, though, and Al may be too, so they may start growing them at some point. The seeds will mean the effect will stay local and hidden, not blatantly visible."

"I see," Izumi nodded. "Thank you for passing the word on."

"Of course," Aeris grinned.

 **Notes:**

(1) Pay attention to Al's wording here—he's NOT saying what everyone will automatically assume. :P


	37. 33-Travel Plans

**A/N:** The first part of this chapter was written for DeathLadyShinigami. I hope you like it!

Travel Plans

Izumi sat at the kitchen table with her PHS in her hand as she read a report she could access through the Turks' data network. Al's visit had been the day before, and it had reminded her of something else she'd wanted to check on—there was a 'requisition' request in the Turks' database for Aeris to be turned over to Hojo, she found out by accident. She tended to do those checks either before Naomi and Ken had gotten up in the morning or after they had gone to sleep at night. They were both very energetic, though she thought their age had something to do with that—very few retained the sheer energy level Zack had for so long.

Naomi was definitely the milder child, and even though Ken had been shy at first, he'd overcome that quickly and become as cheerful and happy as any other child. Unless something happened which triggered him to react to old memories of abuse, causing him to withdraw into himself. Rather than withdraw, Naomi would fight if she felt threatened by something, but if she was caused pain in that state, she would nearly go catatonic. Both had issues she would have to work them through, but she didn't mind—they were ones who could be saved and live good lives. She wanted to give them that chance.

From Naomi and Ken, she turned her thoughts to Ed and Al, the brother alchemists she'd taken as apprentices what felt like a lifetime ago. 'Teacher.' She was starting to think they would never call her anything but that, no matter how many times she told them not to, and with Al yesterday, she'd begun to think they had maybe truly been more like her sons than just her apprentices. She'd already known she was very close to them, but the reminder of her motherly affection for Al had suddenly actively been acknowledged in her mind by that term. It had never been a question to her—they would never call her 'Mom' because they'd had a mother they had loved very much, but maybe she also didn't actually want them to stop calling her 'Teacher', which had become almost synonymous with 'Mother' for them.

She had seen the changes in Ed—in Eden—and had needed a few days to work her mind around how much he had changed. There was still so much of him which was undeniably Ed, but he had also matured a lot, grown into someone who had seen the harsh reality of the world. Despite that, he hadn't broken. Back when she'd found out what he and Al had done and that Ed had joined the Amestrian Military, she had been so certain his strength would eventually give out and he would break. What they had faced in Amestris had been bad...

But what he had faced on this new world in just five months had been ten times worse.

Now, she was reassessing what she had known about him, realizing his strength wasn't in his mother or his brother, or in anyone else—though she was sure that helped. His strength was his own, and the Turks were shockingly good for him, giving him support he had never had in Amestris. The change in environment had been good for him, and he was turning into a young man she could respect, not just for his intelligence, but for his determination and strength.

Al, on the other hand, had always seemed like the voice of reason—but was now in a state of denial. It saddened her to see him so strongly resisting the facts in front of him, trying by turns to get along with his new peers and to pretend the world didn't exist. He often resorted to placing blame where it didn't belong when he did the latter, and hurt people by doing it. It was a very good thing most people were reacting to him in a way which wasn't letting him keep trying to divert blame or hide from the real issues. She shouldn't have let the two be so attached to one another, she now realized—if she had sometimes forcibly separated them, Al would probably be able to move forward easier now because his ties to Ed wouldn't have been so strong.

Ed had always been the protector, the strong and independent one, and Al had always been the protected one, the one who kept Ed in check but otherwise stepped back from the older brother, went along with him. Al had a backbone, but had never seriously applied it to Ed. In that regard, she realized it had been Ed's intrinsic nature allowing him to move forward without Al, but Al hadn't been able to do the same because he'd always relied on his older brother, not on himself, and he had never been the one who had been relied on.

She truly hoped Al would let himself move forward and grow, realize his own independent power and strength.

Just then, a noise she hadn't heard before caught her attention, and she turned her PHS off as she waited quietly for the noise to come again. It was coming from the front door—more specifically, the lock on said front door—a sound like faint scratching. Her brow rose as she realized no monster would be 'scratching' on the lock on the door, so it was probably someone trying to break in. She'd kept all but one small light off when she'd gotten up, and had been sitting still in the dark for probably about two hours by then, so it was safe to assume anyone watching would have thought she'd gone back to bed. Whether they were after her potential possessions or the kids and herself, she didn't know, but she knew they would fail.

As the lock popped, she rose and silently made her way to the front door, and when four men quietly opened the door and stepped into the front hall, she lashed out at them, punching them so hard they flew out the front door and into the street. One pushed himself up and attacked her again, and she thought something was wrong with him, but couldn't see him clearly enough in the darkness to know what. There was a sense and a look about him which was just—somehow _off_ , and she felt like she was hitting a wall when she struck him. After they sparred for a few minutes and she knocked him flat again, two of the others grabbed him and dragged him away, followed by the fourth.

The light suddenly flicked on, and she turned to see Naomi and Ken watching in their nightclothes from the hall. As she was closing the door, she blinked, stopped, and crouched to pick up a rather large, black feather off the floor. Closing the door the rest of the way, she stared down at the feather, wondering where it had come from.

The strange man? That would mean he was a chimera...Was that what Ed had been fighting when he'd killed? Chimeras?

Finally, she took her PHS out again and sent a note to Balto about the attack and the feather left behind.

It looked like they hadn't been kidding when they'd said they needed someone to keep track of things and help them clear out the Slums.

SH

Later that morning, the day after Eden's second 'break' (for as much of one as he had), he and Rufus made it to the lobby of the Shinra building looking a little singed, only to find an upset, terse Tseng waiting for them. It was snowing again, so they were a little soggy as well as singed.

"Well, I suppose I don't have to ask you if you met trouble this morning. Shall we retire to your office, Mr. Shinra?" the Director of the Turks asked formally.

"Of course," Rufus agreed, leading the two Turks up to the named room.

As they walked into the room, Rufus demanded the secretary to have the janitors bring them towels and to send someone to the Manor for a change of clothes (and to Eden's room for his change of clothes). Eden's change arrived quickly, but Rufus would have to settle for a Turk's spare uniform without the suit jacket until a Turk got back with the change of clothes he needed.

Once the pair were as dry and tidy as they could be, the door was closed and the older blond asked the Wutain, "Have you found something, Tseng?"

"Nothing we can use to track them, besides the fact that they aren't all 'human' the way we define the word," the Wutain replied. At Rufus' raised brow, he explained, "Well, some of them are obviously Ravens—but in far too literal a sense, and two groups of your attackers have been those. The rest...they seem to be...sculpted to have an extremely realistic face, but under their clothes, they look more like skeletons wrapped in vacuum-packed plastic. We have some spirit-version monsters who have a similar appearance, minus the 'realistic human face'."

"So monsters are coming in here disguised as humans to attack _me_ in particular? Do you realize how ridiculous that sounds, Tseng?" the older blond glared.

"Have you got a picture of them?" Eden asked the Wutain before the pending argument got going. Though, he didn't really think Tseng would rise to the bait while in Rufus' company, he'd probably have to let off some steam once he left the room.

"Here," Tseng agreed, drawing his PHS to find a photo, then turning the device so Eden could see it.

"They're similar," the blond Turk sighed.

"To what?" the older Turk blinked.

"I told you about the homunculi, right? Those are similar to some of the 'soldiers' the one called 'Father' sent after some of us. Mei had the most experience fighting them, but we all ended up trying our hand at some point. There's a good chance his new buddy had that data available to it, and these are temporary false beings he's using while perfecting his Ravens," Eden explained. "And the Ravens are becoming more and more literally that because of his new-found knowledge of alchemy."

"What do you mean, 'false beings'?" Rufus asked with a frown. "They aren't some sort of monster or you would have called them that, but there really is nothing else they could be."

"They could be taken as a 'monster' of a sort, but no. They're more like some sort of golem or—like one of the machines that came alive, like the Custom Sweepers or other ones like that. Except these things don't have anything like thoughts or feelings, they aren't even as 'human' as the Ravens, which are practically corpses, anyway. Their 'minds' of a sort work more like a very primitive computer, and they need to be given very specific orders in baby steps in order to fulfill them. I don't think Fuhito has figured that out yet, since I think the difference in their attempts to kill or capture most likely come from him confusing them with conditional orders they can't interpret," Eden told the President's son.

"So why are they after me? And why were humans mixed in with them when there weren't Ravens?" the older blond asked, gaze showing puzzled confusion.

"If I may?" Tseng asked, lips pressed into a fine line as he realized what was happening. When Rufus nodded, the Wutain Turk said, "It's highly likely that Fuhito wants you so he can get his hands on some quick money, not by trying to pressure your father into giving him a ransom, but by hacking your ID and bank card to retrieve funds directly from your account. He needs you for that, hopefully alive to try to get your personal codes, but he'll take you dead as well, just so he can get the cards he needs to start hacking. That tells us he's getting short on funds, and while he can still operate, he's being slowly backed into a corner and is getting dangerous. It's also possible he isn't solely after you, he may be after both you and Eden."

"Why Eden?" Rufus blinked. "I know he's highly skilled, but that doesn't make him particularly valuable to Fuhito—he'd be like any other Raven, and no Turk would willingly help a man trying to devastate the world, let alone Shinra. He would know that."

Tseng and Eden traded looks, then Tseng nodded, so Eden asked, "You know that work Genesis and I are supposed to do to sort out Zirconaide?"

"Of course. What does that have to do with this?" the President's son asked darkly.

"If he's started learning about the arrays, which he has, he's finding most sources coming up short and not telling him how they work. I'm a known expert on them, making my knowledge very valuable to him," the blond Turk explained. "Like you said about many people having joined AVALANCHE because Shinra did something to them, if he has a specific goal in mind, he'll do whatever it takes to accomplish it. If that means going after a Turk who has the knowledge he wants, he'll do it, just like he'll go after you to get funds. Assuming the being helping him hasn't given him an array to turn scrap metal into gold, or carbon—ash—into diamond, both reasons are valid for him to have his people, both human and golem, attack us. And us being together then makes us easy targets."

"In which case, I would suggest you both keep changes of clothes here to allow you to walk around in disguise without looking like yourselves, including wigs," Tseng offered. "At least until you're ready to leave on your trip. I don't think moving you to Junon—or anywhere else—would help as long as you were staying in one place for any length of time."

"Does that mean you're approving the trip you previously had a huge number of misgivings about?" Rufus asked, suddenly sounding amused.

"Don't think I don't still have misgivings about the trip," Tseng glared.

"So why are you approving it, then?" Eden asked curiously.

"It's turning out to be safer than having you in one single location, despite the team we need to develop to go with you on such a trek," Tseng replied. "We need to arrange no less than six people to go with you, and will only be able to secure the resources for it because—contrary to popular belief—your father has a bit of a soft spot somewhere in him for you, Rufus. If we keep Eden with you, we'll still have to arrange for at least two more Turks and three SOLDIERs. Those all primarily need to be people who want to develop an Enemy Skill Materia, and while I know Genesis does and Kamil has an interest in finding one, Lazard and I need to have some time to work out the best team to go with you, also for their sheer firepower in an attack. As such, you need disguises until you're ready to go so you're harder to track and target—unless you want to literally be under our care and locked up in this building from now until then?"

Rufus made a disgusted face and said, "I would rather not, thanks. Though, if it's only for a couple more weeks, I could resort to that option if needed—say, if the disguises don't work for some reason. Well, I could always turn this into an excuse to act out and go completely punk for awhile. If I have to do it, I may as well go the whole nine yards and dye my hair, maybe even get a tattoo and some piercings and—"

"You realize those last two are permanent, right?" Tseng cut the blond off, clearly angry enough to be struggling to keep his temper in check.

"Why don't we just use the Change spell on my Mirage Materia?" Eden cut in, sounding amused. "It can make whatever changes to our looks we want, all of them temporary."

"That won't help your clothing, and if you're still dressed like normal, you'll be easily spotted, regardless. This time, you need actual, physical disguises," Tseng replied.

"Oh, then Genesis can probably help with that part," the younger Turk pointed out.

"Speaking of Genesis, you and he need some time to work, and the danger to me may be a good excuse to add him to guard duty. If he's the person to ask about disguises, he probably won't mind one, either, so long as it fits his persona," Rufus put in suddenly.

Tseng sighed and said, "Fine, I'll send him over and make whatever necessary arrangements with Lazard. We will assume Genesis will also be joining you on your world tour. Just... _don't_ go to the Northern Crater until you're all sure you have the experience and defenses to handle it."

"I plan to head there last. Can we borrow a luxury airship to travel to some of the more remote locations with?" Rufus asked, his expression a smirk.

" _What_ remote locations?" the Wutain Turk frowned in puzzlement.

"Besides it being the easy path to Wutai, I've been doing some research into various regions—monsters, Enemy Skills, rare Materia, old caves and mines," Rufus answered. "There are at least three locations we need to reach which are on remote islands—one of those would likely require a helicopter to reach as an airship would have nowhere to land—and there are some out-of-the-way areas we would have a much better chance reaching with an airship."

The black haired man gave a heart-felt sigh and muttered something like 'why are all executives so unreasonable?' He then looked up at Rufus and informed him, "Unfortunately, if you mean the locations I think you mean—the islands especially—even a helicopter can't access them. You'll need to breed or find a Gold Chocobo or hitch a ride on a Summon to get to them."

After a moment of silence, Eden asked, "Breed a Gold Chocobo?"

"The Chocobo Farm is able to, but we'd need to find them some mating pairs who are in excellent condition and make sure they're paid well," Rufus commented. "Especially since we need enough for a fair-sized group. Chocobos may not be practical, and I have no idea of the feasibility of having a Summon both large enough and capable of flying—or willing to fly—to those locations."

"There are several Summons _capable_ , but their willingness would be questionable at best," Eden agreed. "And one of the most obvious options, Bahamut, is one I can't deal with after Neo Bahamut accidentally led to me experiencing death for the first time. On the other hand, I could have a Summon like Odin carry me while the rest get a ride on a Bahamut or Neo Bahamut. Unless there's a way to get our hands on some Gold Chocobos for that part of the journey?"

"I can look into that," Tseng offered. "I don't think the Summons would be pleased to be asked to act as mounts or chauffeurs at any time, especially more than once or over a long trek. We're better off trying to get the Gold Chocobos."

"What does it take to breed one?" the younger blond asked curiously. At their disturbed expressions, he added, "In short form, unless you don't know?"

"We have records here of how, but it's difficult and time-consuming," Rufus finally answered. "Chocobos are normally yellow, and like any other creatures, some have better quality than others. Two of decent quality have a chance of producing young who are Blue or Green Chocobos—river and mountain, respectively. They may also produce other colors showing those traits, but not in such a stable form as the Blue or Green ones. The Blue and Green ones are necessary to mate with one another in order to produce a Black Chocobo, which is a combination of their skills. The Black then needs to be mated with a very good quality normal to produce a Gold Chocobo. The pairs require particular care and feeding to produce the results as well, and those are not cheap. Mainly, the issue with trying to breed Gold Chocobos is the time raising each pair takes, as it isn't only a few days for a chickabo (1) to grow up. We would have to wait over a year to acquire grown Gold Chocobos if we bred them ourselves. (2)"

"I see..." Eden stared. "Then you're right, and if we can't find someone who already has enough Golds, it isn't practical. We may have to use an airship to reach the various locations, then have a Summon just carry us from the airship to the ground and back up—they shouldn't be opposed to doing a short jaunt like that. Are we done so we can get Genesis over here?"

Tseng sent him a mild glare, but agreed, "For the moment. I'll head back to my office to make the arrangements."

"Tell Genesis I said he has to bring his paperwork because I don't have mine handy," the younger blond grinned impishly. "He'll know what you mean. Or what Lazard means if he ends up passing on the message."

"Fine," the Wutain nodded, then looked at Rufus. "Was that all on your end as well?"

"Yes, I'm fine," Rufus agreed. "We'll be awaiting Genesis' arrival, then." With a final nod, Tseng left the room, and the two blonds were left to wait for Rufus' change of clothes and Genesis' arrival.

Apparently, that was so boring Rufus decided to randomly ask, "Do you have plans for the Tree Lighting Festival, Eden?"

"What's a what now?" the younger blond asked blankly.

For a moment, the older blond stared at him in surprise, then snorted and chuckled. "About twenty-five years ago, my father decided we needed some sort of festival before the end of the year, so he set up a giant tree in Sector 6 on the Upper Plate back when it was barely starting to build and arranged for vendors to sell colored lights which could be hung on the tree to represent people's wishes and hopes for the coming year. Of course, we know it's really just a money maker, but people seem to like it, particularly because they can buy any color of light, but each year has a theme for a particular color and emotional interest. There are often also petty merchants who take advantage of the Lighting to sell their wares—something like, if the theme for one year is purple and good romance, the flower sellers will encourage people to buy purple flowers for their significant other or romantic interest. The tree is put up in the morning on the twenty-fourth and taken down just after midnight the night of the twenty-fifth in December." (3)

"That's only—the twenty-fourth is tomorrow, right?" Eden blinked.

"It is," Rufus agreed.

After a pause to calculate the days, the younger blond shrugged and said, "I'm on guard duty with you tomorrow and disciplinary duty the next day, so I guess I don't have any plans this year. I'm kinda glad, though, because I'd rather not be out in the snow doing something as ridiculous as lighting a light and hanging it on a tree."

"Really?" the President's son asked in mild surprise. "I thought I would ask Winry to visit the town with me tomorrow so she can see the festivities for herself. There are no other such events here, after all."

With a snort, Ed agreed, "Sure, I'm game—if you can pull her away from her work for that long."

"Pull who away from her work for what?" Genesis' curious voice asked from the doorway. Roy was standing behind him, gaze equally curious.

Rufus and Eden both looked at them, noting the stack of papers the red haired man carried. "I was going to ask Winry to accompany me in town for the Tree Lighting tomorrow. With both you and Eden assigned as my guards for the time being, I suppose you would also be joining us, Commander," Rufus said formally. "How much have you been told about the situation here?"

Genesis gave an amused grin and said, "I'll help you convince Winry to join us. As for what I was told, you're being attacked upsettingly frequently by not-monsters and humans who can't seem to make up their minds if they should kill or kidnap you. The result is that you need disguises to walk around in and an additional guard to be on the safe side. Apparently, there's also a trip you'll be going on which I'll be joining you for, meant largely to find the more difficult-to-obtain Enemy Skills. Does that cover it all?"

"It does," Rufus agreed. "Obviously, some of your time will go to working out that issue for Felicia, but do you have any objections to working out disguises for us and going on a world tour to remote locations?"

"I have none," the older man grinned. "Roy is going to be retrieving things for us while we work out the disguises, then he has a mission to do, so let's get started."

At the man's almost manic grin, Eden muttered, "I suddenly have a bad feeling about this..."

"So do I," Rufus answered as softly with a small sigh.

 **Notes:**

(1) I've seen a lot of random people call Chocobo chicks 'chickabos', even though there's nothing in the Compilation of FFVII which would indicate that's what they're called. On the other hand, I think it's a cute name for them, so I've decided to use it, too.

(2) Based on the timeline for the FFVII main game, they'd have had 3 weeks or so to breed 1 Gold Chocobo (or 3, one for each member of the main party to ride). That's not even feasible based on what they are, so I'm making the timeframe needed to raise Chocobos more realistic here—which also makes them _un_ realistic options for their trip.

(3) This Tree Lighting Festival comes across as a very odd mix of Christmas, New Year's, and the Tanabata Festival in Japan. Japan's Christmas and New Year's are similar to ours, and the 'hanging lights with their wishes on the tree' comes from the Tanabata tradition of hanging slips of paper with their wishes written on them off bamboo branches. An entire chapter in FFVII: Before Crisis is devoted to activities surrounding the Tree Lighting, though it was largely about the Turks spying on Rude and a woman named Chelsea (a member of AVALANCHE in disguise). As far as I can tell, the only things making it 'like' Christmas are the date and the massive number of lights put up around Midgar. There are no other 'festivals' or 'holidays' noted in FFVII, though Wutai might have one or two which are never mentioned because the focus of the story is Shinra lands, leading to the assumption that they have no such holidays, and this one is a very recent creation.

For that matter, there weren't really any holidays mentioned in FMA:B/manga, either.


	38. 34-Imprinting

Imprinting

The next day, Rufus and Genesis had been able to get Winry away from her work—with a great deal of difficulty and the promise of buying her tools and such from in town if she saw any she liked—and prepared the first trial of their new disguises. Because the blond girl was also 'high profile', they decided it would be best if she had one as well, and she actually quite enjoyed it, even asking them why she shouldn't have fun with the adult's version of 'playing dress-up'. Her way of viewing it meant it went over much better with all three men (Eden had been the most resistant to it, even knowing he had to).

Rufus and Winry had gone with matching bright red hair like Reno's, the eighteen-year-old man's falling freely in a rather messy style similar to when Eden had taken him into the Slums and Winry's in a braid. Genesis had turned his hair white and Ed had made his black. With the changes to their hair, they also changed their eyes, Rufus and Winry to the same kind of green-hued bright blue as Reno had—the three of them could have passed for siblings like that—Genesis to green like his father's, and Eden making his brown. For clothing, Rufus and Winry had on semi-casual dress clothes in mainly blue, though Rufus' pants were black and he had a red scarf on while Winry wore a red sweater over her skirt and shirt. Genesis' clothes were all black and somewhat Goth in design, making him look a little like Sephiroth, and Eden—

Winry had shoved him in a girl's dress with tights underneath in case he had to fight. The dress fell a bit past the knee in navy blue with white trim, and it was a fairly plain design like the kinds of clothes Winry herself favored. Even Roy, who had been helping them prepare their costumes again, was amazed at Eden's new look in the clothes and with his—or temporarily 'her'—hair down. The blond girl's reasoning was that she 'just had to see him dressed like a girl just once before he grew too manly to be able to pull off the look.' Of course, the men also found it amusing, though Eden didn't, as his alternate look as a male should have made him resemble a nondescript paperboy with his hair in the braid he used when he wasn't in his Turk uniform.

On their way out, they passed a few of the Turks, Tseng, Emma, Reno, and Balto, whose reactions to the group's new looks proved the disguise was good at first glance. All of them were staring in shock and surprise (and other emotions Ed didn't care to define or place), even Tseng looking momentarily confused before remembering the whole disguise issue. It wasn't until they had nearly made it outside the Turks' range before they heard Emma have a laughing fit as Balto asked if they were friends of Reno's, who asked him in reply if he really didn't realize who they were. After a pause, Balto just rubbed a hand tiredly over his face.

SH

While Eden, Genesis, Rufus, and Winry were in town in their new disguises, Mei found herself just somehow feeling like there was somewhere she had to go, and a boy she had met in town came to mind. As the sensation persisted until the lunch break at the Academy, she made the decision to leave the school and try to find him—to find Evan. In her hurry to leave, she didn't get her lunch, didn't even try to hide her departure, just—barely—gathered her books and bag and ran. Making that much fuss meant people noticed, and Yufi and Shelke (because the two had some classes together and had just left one of those) immediately followed her, which in turn forced Illis to follow Yufi and Shelke.

Mei had only met him a few times before they had been taken to the Shinra building, but her knowledge of what he was doing had helped to calm him down, especially when he started drawing out the arrays on paper instead of—other surfaces. Her absence would have meant he had no one again, and she thought something might have happened to have made things worse for him. If it had, she had to find him before he gave up, because he'd already been close. Why she knew, she wasn't sure, but there was just something telling her it was almost too late, and she _had_ to find Evan soon.

The second time they had met, he had shown her several places in Sector 6 which he frequented, so she started by stopping by those. He wasn't at them, so she turned her mind to the arrays he'd been drawing and where he'd been drawing them, making a mental map in her mind to see if she could find the next point on the larger array he was instinctively drawing. As she traced them, she found point after point in a logical sequence, letting her know just how much more data had been imprinted in his mind as well as giving her a path to trace. It took awhile of tracing the points before she reached the next location—and found him.

Between the wall where the array was drawn and a large crate someone had left, Evan sat huddled and hunched. He was crying, his arms wrapped around his knees and head, and there was a segment of discarded, white chalk sitting on the ground in front of him. By the thin layer of snow sitting on him—it had started snowing half-way through the morning—he'd been sitting there for awhile.

Running to him, she knelt there and asked worriedly, "Evan, what's wrong? Did something else happen?" He wasn't wearing a coat, so she quickly pulled hers off and began wrapping him in it.

"Mei...?" he asked weakly, looking up through blurry eyes. "Where were you?"

"I—all of us—got taken to the Shinra building by SOLDIER and the Infantry," she told him, and his eyes widened in alarm. She held her hands up in a warding and 'wait' motion, telling him, "We're okay. It turned out they wanted to give us homes and work and stuff, not the bad things. I just haven't had much time for anything, but I felt something was really wrong, so I ditched school to come find you. So, I'm here now, and I need to know what happened. Please?"

Neither noticed Yufi, Shelke, and Illis join them as the three kept a bit of a distance, just close enough to hear but not so close they would be intrusive.

He dropped his head onto his knees again and muttered, "I was drawing the arrays like you said because it helped, but Mom's new boyfriend said it was creepy and he threw me out. Mom didn't even try to stop him, just told me to get lost. She didn't even try to stop him when he..."

"What did he do?" Mei asked urgently, reaching out to rest a hand on his shoulder. Illis frowned and moved forward to see as well, recognizing the signs he was showing.

Evan hesitated before slowly sitting back against the wall, still crying. He then pushed her coat out of the way and lifted his shirt to show his belly and chest, which had several dark bruises on them, some small and others fairly large. One of the mid-sized ones was rather ugly, dark red with blood in the middle of a black bruise, and it was fairly swollen.

"Oh, Evan..." Mei murmured sadly. What was she supposed to do?

"That's abuse, and the dark one probably damaged more than skin," Illis said from behind Mei. Both started and looked up at her in surprise, but when Evan saw a Turk, he began to panic. "Calm down," she ordered him as she drew her PHS. "I'm not going to hurt you, but I need to make a call to get you the care you need. We'll worry about anything else once you're in a hospital bed." She dialed Tseng's number and waited for him to answer, wondering why it wasn't being answered right away like it usually was.

When the Wutain finally answered, he said, "Sorry for the delay—I was working on something with someone else right then. What has Yufi done?"

"In this case, Yufi isn't the problem, it's Mei," Illis answered with a small sigh.

"...Mei?"

"She left school at lunch, and Yufi and Shelke followed her. She was obviously looking urgently for something or someone, and finally led us to a ten-year-old boy she knows in the city. Apparently, he's been drawing arrays without knowing what they are, and that resulted in his mother throwing him out while her boyfriend beat him pretty badly. We need to get him to the hospital and we need someone who can talk with him about the arrays he seems to—just know. I don't think Mei knows how to do more for him or she would have already done it."

Tseng heaved a sigh and told her, "I'll send an ambulance once you give me coordinates, and I'll send Rufus, Eden, and Genesis to you. Just be warned that they're in disguise, so they all look—I'll send you a picture with them in disguise. Miss Rockbell is also with them."

"That works," the Lady Turk agreed, then gave him their location. Soon after, she had gotten back the picture of the four in disguise—and had to blink at it in surprise for several moments before realizing the black haired girl in the picture was Eden. Despite the situation, she had to laugh at how attractive a girl Eden currently made, and she had to admit pretty much anyone but a Turk would be completely fooled by their disguises.

"What're you laughing at?" Shelke asked, giving the woman a dark look. "This isn't a funny situation."

"Yeah, even _I_ know that!" Yufi added.

"Mr. Shinra, Miss Rockbell, Commander Rhapsodos, and Eden are being sent to us here, but they're currently in disguise. See this?" she said, letting all four kids see the photo, taken from a camera outside the lobby elevator doors.

"Whoa! Those are good disguises!" Mei gasped, and Yufi nodded reverently as Shelke and Evan blinked at the photo. "Who's who?"

"I'm not going to tell you the others, since that would defeat the purpose of the disguises, but I'll tell you Eden—he's the black haired girl," Illis said, unable to resist the urge to chuckle again. "I don't think he'll be able to pull off a girl's look for much longer, though." The words made the three girls chuckle or laugh, and even Evan managed a small chuckle, which made it worth showing them the picture. Now all they had to do was wait for everyone to arrive.

"Will I be sent back to—her?" Evan asked timidly after a pause.

"That would be stupid of them to do, and Turks aren't stupid," Yufi answered, her tone absolutely certain of that.

"I doubt you'll be sent back," Illis said to the boy, knowing she couldn't give an absolute like Yufi wanted her to.

"But—" he began, eyes widening in alarm.

"Listen, the major two factors in this situation are your injuries and the fact that you were abandoned," the Turk told him gently. Well, her tone was gentle, but she was still a blunt person who wasn't going to beat around the bush. "There are legalities Shinra operates by, and if your mother doesn't do something like put out a missing child alert within the next twenty-four hours, she's giving up any claim she had on you. Legally, that would make you an orphan, which means _we'll_ be placing you. Because you have a unique ability, we'll have to make sure you have someone close at hand who can work with you. I know for a fact the arrays you're drawing can just as easily be used to hurt or help, just like Materia or a sword or a gun. If you want to avoid hurting people accidentally, lessons are a must. By that logic, even if you were returned to your mother's care, we'd have you placed under _ours_ at the Academy, and your mother would have to be a fool to let something like that happen to you again under _our_ watch, otherwise chances are we'll kill her."

"Oh," he murmured, looking down at his knees.

Shelke sat down beside him, her shoulder lightly touching his, but after a moment, he leaned into her shoulder. Mei sat to his other side similarly, but Yufi—energetic as always—amused herself by trying out her skills along the street under Illis' watchful eye. By then, Illis had learned the Wutain Princess just had an abhorrent amount of energy and needed to expend it somehow, so she realized Yufi wasn't any less worried about Evan than any of the others. Rather, worried or not, she still had to release energy somehow, and the fact that she was willingly staying so close meant she wanted to be there in case something happened or she was needed. Apparently both Shelke and Mei had also realized that, so weren't at all upset by the Wutain nine-year-old's antics.

Soon after, four young adults turned the corner around the side of the building, two with bright red hair, one with white, and one with black. They quickly made their way to the group of kids, the black haired 'girl' carrying a stack of paper and some pens. With an exuberant 'yay', Yufi was hugging the black haired 'girl' around the waist while Mei, Shelke, and Illis gave small smiles and waves. Since Eden-in-disguise had been appropriated by Yufi, the white haired man took the paper and pens with an amused grin and moved over to where Evan sat between Shelke and Mei. The obviously miserable boy looked up at him, so he dropped the paper and pens into his lap.

"Start drawing. Everything you've seen, start drawing them," the white haired Genesis told the boy. "We need to know the extent of what you've ended up with if we're going to start teaching you about it properly."

"...How detailed do you want them?" Evan asked softly.

"We're not especially worried about you drawing perfect circles, but they need to be as detailed as you can make them. Every mark you see in a single array has a meaning—it's not there for fun. If you're seeing what we think you are, full-form arrays are being imprinted into your mind and you're probably a Mage on top of it. The only reason nothing has happened yet is because the Reactors are preventing the results of the free-form arrays from activating," Genesis-in-disguise answered.

"...'Kay," the boy agreed, then took one pen and began drawing on the top sheet.

Meanwhile, Eden had been looking at the array on the wall, and he gave an impressed whistle as Genesis rose. What he was seeing was an array easily of the complexity level he worked with, something along the lines of the array given to Fuhito to work with the Ravens and the creation of chimeras. The particular array's usage was actually one for healing, but they had passed another for fire and a different one for what Eden thought was an escape form of teleportation, like the way he imagined the Exit Materia's Escape spell would look like. Of course, that kind of complexity had its own downfalls, especially in the hands of someone who didn't understand them.

"What do you think?" Genesis asked him quietly, joining him.

Yufi quite happily listened to the two as they spoke softly about the situation, still attached to Eden's waist—after all, she almost never got to see him these days. In a way, she was a little surprised he wasn't shooing her away, but then she remembered Felicia having vouched for her ability to keep things to herself. He really trusted Felicia a lot to take her at her word like he was, but she was happy as well, since it let her listen in—and Genesis was letting her, too, which was a bonus.

"If this is the usual level of array he sees, this is master-level skills," Eden answered.

"I thought the same, what with the base array for Escape we saw back a ways," the older man agreed. "I'd envy him if I didn't know how scary it can be to suddenly know something because something outside you forced it on you. At least I have a pretty good idea what I'm doing, too. But that also begs the question of why he's skipping all the intermediate steps, and even the basics."

The black haired 'girl' gave a shrug and said, "Probably because _we_ skip those steps, and I'm pretty sure he's getting the knowledge by virtue of being especially attuned to the things we think about and work on. Also, the Lifestream is holding the same data since Minerva knows it to have created the Materia in the first place. Still, the transfer of data shouldn't be so high."

"There's that. It's quite an anomaly," the older of the two agreed.

"Go with him in the ambulance and make him keep drawing until the doctors have to figure out what's wrong and fix it—doing so is obviously helping calm and stabilize him. I think we'll have to work out a teacher for him, too."

"I can do that, especially since our disguises seem to be working very well and the three of you should be fine. Would you want your teacher to take him on?"

"No," Eden answered with a flinch—which Yufi felt, causing her to look up at him in surprise. "Not that she isn't a good teacher—she's _very_ good and would probably be great for someone as exuberant and resilient as Yufi—but someone like Evan is too...mild and timid to not be scared away by her. He needs someone less...volatile and harshly demanding." After a pause, he blinked and said, "Al can do it."

"Your brother? He's good at teaching?" Genesis asked in mild surprise.

"I don't know how good he is at 'teaching' because he's never done it before, but he's patient, methodical, and naturally willing to discuss things. He has the knowledge and is normally not bothered by a lot, so he should be able to adapt as Evan needs him to. I hope so, anyway. It would be a learning experience for him as much as for Evan, but I think he'll be okay to do this, just because he's not terribly intimidating, but he can be firm and get his points across."

"We can give that a try, then."

The ambulance pulled up right then, so Genesis and Mei went with Evan, the man's coloring reverted to normal (other than his clothes) as Eden removed the Change spell from him once he got in the ambulance. The others started walking back to the Shinra building, Yufi and Shelke to either side of Eden and Winry beside Shelke as the two girls talked with one another, and just behind them, Rufus and Illis walked side-by-side. She had to ask about what they'd done name-wise and about how long they expected Eden to be able to keep dressing like a girl.

Rufus informed her that his usual disguise was as a black haired male with a paperboy sort of look, but Winry had insisted he dress that way just once before he wouldn't be able to anymore. As his adult male features were starting to show—the adam's apple, a booming-and-cracking voice, adjusted muscle tone for more raw strength, and so on—the point was a good one. The plan was for their next trip out to be Eden as a boy. As for names, they had to just guess at what people with red hair would be named, but Winry had gone with Beth and Adam for them, hers because it was a name she'd always liked and him just because it was plain and ordinary. Eden's had become Arda for the moment, but would be Sable as a male, and Genesis had taken the name Albion.

When they got back to the Shinra building and headed up to the Hospital Wing, Eden dropped their disguises (except his, since he was going to return to Rufus' office with him to retrieve his suit) and put in a call to his brother. Al agreed to meet him as soon as the school day ended, which was soon, so he hung up and turned his attention to everyone gathered in the Hospital waiting room.

Tseng was one of them, and the Wutain quickly took over the situation, ordering everyone back to what they were supposed to be doing, all but Genesis, who was supposed to wait there for Rufus and Eden to get back. He told Mei to call him next time, and that her teachers for the afternoon would be expecting her once classes ended so she could collect her missed work. Yufi and Shelke were given the same leniency with their teachers. All the girls could return after doing so if they wished.

When Eden and Rufus returned, dressed in their usual attire, Genesis went to change as well, and once he had rejoined them, Tseng handed the Turk and SOLDIER a set of papers apparently courtesy of Evan. Those turned out to be the arrays Evan had drawn up to the point when the doctors had taken the paper and pens away from him so they could take care of his injuries, so the two began scouring them. Most were easily recognizable as modified main arrays for common Materia spells, but then Eden found one which made him stop and do a double-take.

"Genesis..." he began, staring at the array with wide eyes.

"Yes?" the man asked as he looked up from the papers he'd been looking at with a small frown.

"Is this anything like your Limit Break or the array you used on Nero?" Eden asked as he offered it to the red haired man.

The SOLDIER took it, glanced at it—then stared, his mouth forming a small, shocked 'oh'. "...Well, I guess your theory fits, because there's no record of this for anyone to have found. Only Minerva, you, and I know it."

"Hey, Ed—en," Al said as he joined them. "What's wrong?" he asked as he saw Ed's and Genesis' expressions. Rufus was looking at him in confusion, but said nothing about what he was confused about, so even though Al and Eden saw his expression, they set it aside for later. Tseng was out of sight at the moment, but behind a nearby support pillar where he could see the door to Evan's examination room from.

"There's a ten-year-old boy here in the Hospital right now who draws these things without knowing anything about them," Ed replied, handing his papers to Al.

The younger blond flipped through them, then looked up and asked, "So why did you call me here?"

"I was hoping you'd be able to teach him what he's doing so it doesn't scare him so much when he ends up with new data. I'd have offered Teacher, but Evan is too timid for her, and you're a milder sort of person. What he'll do with this, I don't know, but I hope you'll be a good influence on him while getting him caught up on it, what it means, and how it works, right from the basics," the blond Turk explained.

Al sat down next to Eden, a thoughtful expression on his face as he mentally debated the request. Finally, he looked up and nodded. "I can try. I've never been a teacher before, but if this is really starting from scratch, at least I can start from easy things—even things as simple as how to draw the forms correctly, because that's a requirement to making them function. The only problem is the practical work, which we can't do where there's Reactors."

Stepping out from behind the pillar, Tseng said, "We can arrange outings for you on your days off from classes to go to areas where you'll be able to do so. There may even be ways to arrange things for class days, not unlike the trip you had to Kalm. Of course, the only nearby place we could take you on a day trip is the Chocobo Farm near the marshes, but some riding lessons may not go amiss, either."

"For what it's worth, you could just have them go on a picnic out in the middle of the grasslands south of Kalm with the new Cadets as their guards," Eden snorted. "If it's still green, it's far enough away from the Reactors."

"That's true," Genesis agreed. "But riding lessons would be _very_ useful for _all_ the Academy students, so if you think you have _any_ chance of arranging _that_ outing, please do it."

"I'll work on it," Tseng agreed.

They spent most of the rest of the day waiting for Evan to be settled in a room so they could talk with him about their plan, then left Al and Mei with him so the blond could begin his lessons while all the others went back to their own tasks.


	39. 35-Gifts

Gifts

A few days later, on December twenty-seventh, Eden had gone to get his copy of the arrays for Zirconaide when he, Genesis, and Rufus got to the Vice President's office so he and Genesis could work on it while Rufus did paperwork. The older blond gave them permission to lay out the arrays on his floor so they could see it properly—he had a very large office, so it was easy to find an out-of-the way corner to lay them out. That, in turn, meant Roy saw them (but said nothing at the time) when he stopped by just after supper to check in with Genesis on his next assignment. The assignment was to head up to the Bone Village area to take on some Parasite (1) monsters which had apparently migrated south from the Northern Crater, making Eden stare at them in shock.

"Hold on, the Bastard just got his first infusion a few weeks ago! Third Classes don't get sent to fight monsters out of the Northern Crater area—even Seconds don't get sent to fight them. Why's he?" the Turk asked, gaze worried.

Genesis blinked, then blinked again as Roy commented, "That's a good question."

With a chuckle, the red haired man replied, "That's part of the dynamic between the commander and the chosen second. Someone brought into SOLDIER because of that is given two infusions only, rather than three, so gets the first two at once. In the first little while, they just prove their technical and physical ability, which shouldn't take more than a month. During that time, they're registered as a Third. Once they've proven themselves, they're given the second infusion, re-ranked as a Second, and have to prove their command and tactical ability. Basically, Roy—right now, you're a Third with the enhancements of a Second, and once you do this assignment, you'll be a Second with the enhancements of a First. When you become a First, you'll have the power of a Commander, even when you don't officially have the rank, with the restriction that, if anything happens to me, you'll have to fill my position regardless of anything else happening."

"Commander, I think Eden's point was that Thirds and Seconds aren't sent to fight the Northern monsters," Rufus commented from his desk, still writing hastily on the paper in front of him. "Even if Third Mustang has the enhancements of a Second, he still shouldn't be fighting them."

"Oh, that," the other man snorted. "That's a bit of a misconception, because Seconds are actually fully capable of fighting everything up to and including the Great Glacier, and only aren't sent solo into the area due to the overwhelming numbers of enemies there. The number of Parasites which moved south are limited to ten, maybe as many as twenty if any reproduced in the time since they moved, so a Second should be able to take them on. It's fairly common for an assignment like this to be given to a Second about to be promoted to First—which, by his infusions, is what Roy is."

Eden gave the Commander an amused look, then looked at Roy to ask, "So, you're all good with taking on those numbers, Bastard?"

"I'm fine, Shrimp," the black haired man replied dryly. "Though I don't think I can keep calling you that for much longer, since you've grown quite a bit in the last few weeks. Regardless, the numbers on this mission are actually lower than a few of the ones I've been sent on, so it's just a matter of how best to fight Parasites in particular."

"Yeah, how tall are you now, Eden?" Genesis asked curiously, making Rufus snort, Eden stare, and Roy chuckle.

Before he could answer, there was a buzz from the intercom on Rufus' desk—a very rare event—causing him to stop writing to press the button on it and ask, "What do you need?"

"Sorry to bother you, Sir," the secretary began. "Miss Pereld is here with a woman who has some sort of proposal for you. Would you like to see them?"

Eden gave Rufus a confused look as Genesis' brow rose, but the older blond answered evenly, "If it's Felicia bringing her here, I'll see them now."

"Understood, Sir," the woman agreed. Rufus then returned to his paperwork.

A moment later, there was a brief knock on the door before it opened to admit Felicia, Izumi Curtis, two young kids, and a brown Cait Sith. Eden blinked, then blinked again, vaguely remembering the two kids from in the Turks' office meeting, but he was very puzzled by how Teacher fit in with Felicia. Rufus finished what he was writing and set the paper aside, but as he was doing so, the women noticed the arrays laid out on the floor, Felicia with curiosity and Izumi with a glare.

"What's all this about now? Didn't you learn not to play around with people's souls already, you rotten brat?" the woman glared at Eden.

" _Must_ we go through this _again_?" Rufus cut in sharply, making the woman turn to him with the intent to give him a piece of her mind—only to see a familiar face and stop in shock.

"That's a soul array, though," she finally scowled.

"It's something they're working on to save my life," Felicia put in, gazing at it oddly for a moment before looking up at Eden and Genesis. "Have you made any further progress since the last time I asked?"

"Yeah, we did make some. We've got most of the key elements, but we still need to figure out what we need to change to switch their forms to Independent Materia to re-merge them. Every time we find another key, the whole system gains a new layer of complexity, so we have more work than even _I_ thought we'd end up with," Eden explained. "The current sticking point is the fact that four of the shards are registered as Support types while one is a Summon type—changing both forms, which have differing requirements, at the same time won't be easy."

The woman nodded, then asked, "Is there a reason for the way you've laid them out?"

"That would be because this is the actual form they would have if they were united again, and it's the form we have to be able to return them to," Genesis answered that time, grinning at her. "But finding out their form overlaps a seven-point, five-point, and three-point array on top of forming sub-arrays within sub-arrays on those three was both one of our biggest breakthroughs and the one which has caused us the greatest number of problems. Let's just say this takes 'delicacy' to a whole new level."

"It's possible, though," Eden added. "Definitely possible. This is more than three-quarters of the problem solved and it's just the finer details we need to work out now."

Felicia gave them a small smile and nod as she said in mild amusement, "You two truly never cease to amaze me with your skills. Thank you."

"Shall we proceed with the reason the two of you are here, then?" Rufus asked dryly.

The others faced him in mild surprise, only for a new voice to comment in amusement from the door, "Looks like this is turning into a regular party now." All eyes moved to the door in honest surprise, only to see Reeve, Winry, Shalua, Shelke, Jessie, and Biggs—all of Reeve's established 'best workers'—and one of the usual Cait Siths.

"How can I help you, Reeve?" Rufus asked, rising and stepping around his desk. While his expression was carefully calm, his actions showed worry.

"There's no problem in that sense, if that's what you're worried about," Reeve said with a smile, lifting the box in his hands. Jessie carried another which was about the same dimensions, but larger, and Winry had a third which was much more rectangular than the first two. "We come bearing gifts. If you had a prior engagement, we can wait. On the up-side, this gets me away from my work for a bit."

Shalua and Shelke split from the group to run to Genesis to hug him, and he happily returned their hugs as the three spoke softly. Izumi quickly turned her gaze to the two children at her sides, then blinked and looked up at Rufus as she said, "If 'Reeve' is the head of Urban Development, he may be interested in this, anyway."

Rufus blinked as Reeve gave the woman a curious look, but the blond's eyes moved to Felicia questioningly for a moment. When she gave a nod, Rufus returned his gaze to the woman and said, "Well, as it seems you don't have actual papers to hand me, I'll need to record the discussion so I have a way to verify agreed-on details. Will that be acceptable?"

"That's fine," Izumi agreed.

"Just one thing before you start," Eden commented as the 'Vice President' moved back around his desk to pull out and set up a recording device. Before the others could do more than look at him, he asked, "When did you and Teacher meet, Felicia?"

Felicia chuckled as Izumi glared and snapped, "Quit calling me that, runt!"

The brown haired woman, on the other hand, said, "She's got a home in the Sector Six Slums, and we pass through there a lot when we travel between Sectors Seven and Five. It's rather difficult not to notice a Turk and a First frequently visiting a home in the Slums, but when Zack easily called her 'Aunt' Izumi and had introduced her to the flower girl he's now going out with, I couldn't just watch anymore."

Genesis started snickering, but Eden just gave a wry smile and asked Izumi, "So what's with Zack and his girlfriend and you?"

"Some of that you should ask your boss, but apparently, I have two nephews living here in the city. With how few people I get along with, Zack and his girlfriend are a couple of those few. It's not more complicated," the woman answered, crossing her arms as she gazed at the blond evenly. "Last time, you cast Stop on me, didn't you?"

"I did," Eden agreed. "Only because I _really_ didn't want to fight you. Especially not in a place which can be too easily damaged."

She made a face, then turned to look at Rufus. "Are you ready?" she asked, nodding at the device he'd placed on the desk.

"I am," he agreed, reaching over to press the button to begin recording. "Now, explain to me what proposal brought you here, Miss..."

"Izumi Curtis. My husband is dead, unfortunately," she replied with a small sigh. "I still have these two to take care of, even with the support some people in Shinra have given me, so since I didn't want to return to Gongaga, I had to think of what I would do here to take care of them. My solution was a—semi-formal school for Slum children to gain an education, learn some self-defense, and create a source of income for their lessons so their families wouldn't have to try to fund their schooling."

"Semi-formal?" Rufus asked with a raised brow.

"There's only so much I can teach them, but hopefully, if they learn it soon enough, they'll know enough to be accepted in a better school by age ten. Obviously, the first year isn't likely to work out so well for most, but if they have a good grasp of things like math, language, science, geography, and history in basic forms, they'll be able to get better jobs, even without the education formal schools would give them. The self-defense part is a practical addition given where they live—they _need_ to be able to protect themselves.

"Part of the terms would be that they would take part of the day to do crafts or make other useful items they'll be able to sell as their 'tuition'. Participation is the key element in their tuition, not the form it takes—there may be children who want to sell the made products but can't be bothered to make them, and others who only want to make the products but not sell them. I don't care which one they do as long as they do at least one of them," Izumi explained. "That also gives them some practical skills which will help them find jobs if they leave school once I can't teach them any more."

"And why did you bring this to me, Mrs. Curtis?" Rufus asked slowly.

"It was suggested to me—more than once—that I ask you for potential support in this because you're currently taking on projects which would improve the livelihoods of people in the Slums," the woman answered frankly.

The eighteen-year-old blond stared at her for a moment before nodding and saying, "I believe it has potential. However, starting a school in any capacity involves legal issues Reeve would be far more aware of than I, so it was indeed a good thing to have him stay for this." Rufus looked at the older, black haired man, whose gaze was thoughtful, and asked, "What kinds of legal issues would this involve, Reeve, particularly if I assist in funding and supplying such a school as a trial?"

Giving a small nod, the older man said, "With it being semi-formal, we'll need to sit down, the three of us, and go over my paperwork on school requirements based on how they're registered. I can tell you right now you'll need to find at least one more teacher or teaching assistant, Mrs. Curtis."

"I see," the woman blinked. "But it can be done?"

"Most likely," the man agreed. "Shall we set up an appointment to work out the details and put it down on paper so we all know the required parts are covered?"

"That would be for the best—though I believe we'll need to hold said appointment within the week, because if I have anything to say about it, we're heading south _before_ this cold spell ends," Rufus scowled, looking out the window, where snow was falling again.

Izumi looked amused as the Turk and SOLDIERs snickered, but Winry agreed, "It makes me glad I don't go outside much."

"The day after tomorrow, then?" Reeve offered.

Rufus flipped open a book on the far side of his desk, then flipped to the page he needed. "The only time I have then is immediately after lunch, though the next of my requirements is a meeting I can feasibly either arrive late at or not attend if need be." His gaze lifted to Izumi. "Will that work for you, Mrs. Curtis?"

She paused for a moment, then gave a nod. "That's fine. I should even be able to leave these two with Zack then so they won't have to listen to a discussion I'm sure they'll find boring." The kids snickered quietly.

"Good. We'll meet then," the blond agreed, then shut off the recording device and looked at Reeve with a raised brow as he asked, "So what gifts did you come bearing?"

"One for you and two for Eden," Reeve answered in amusement. "Though I guess one of those will act as a gift to everyone relying on him being an efficient combatant."

"Let me guess—Winry has another leg for me, right?" Eden asked with a face.

"I do," she grinned. "Mythril is an excellent material to make auto-mail with, you know. It's light and sturdy, even compared to chrome, and it's resistant to rust—along with a bunch of other things. The best part is that it'll keep its strength, even if I make the leg extendable. Now, the only question is, are you going to give me access to your leg or do I strip you like normal?"

Eden flushed bright red and held his hands up in a warding motion as the others looked at the pair in bemusement. "My pants are loose enough to roll up above the knee easily. Will that be good enough?" he asked the blond girl.

She gazed at him thoughtfully for a moment before saying, "We'll see. If it ends up too tight around your thigh, that won't be good. Oh, and Shalua, you're going to have to pay attention to this, since this will show you the measuring methods you may have to use on the fly."

"Okay," the red haired girl agreed, pushing up her glasses as she joined them.

The blond Turk moved to a chair and sat, rolling up his pant leg. Winry tested how tight it was around his thigh with a finger under the rolled section, and found the suit pants were loose enough to keep full circulation. As she tested the tightness, she told Shalua what she was doing and why, then kept up her explanation as she first examined the limb, then held it up next to its flesh partner. The one Eden already had was extended to the limit she had given it, but the flesh leg was already a couple millimeters longer than it.

"Geez, this makes three inches in a few weeks. Ed, this is really strange," Winry sighed. "It's a good thing I made the leg with an extra inch as well. Every time you come back here—or to another city I can reach easily—I'll have to make sure another leg is ready for you if this keeps up."

She then gave him his regular maintenance (early, but since the blond Turk was quite rough on his auto-mail, it wasn't wasted) while Shalua watched with interest, and finished up by making sure the new limb was properly set for current leg-length. Eden put the new leg on with the usual burst of pain and Winry did the usual verifications to make sure it had linked to his system properly. Once she was done, she grinned in satisfaction and they faced Reeve—and Rufus.

While Winry had been working with Eden, the older man had given Rufus a Cait Sith unit, but rather than black and white or brown, the new one was white with a black 'V' under its chin and black cloth gloves. It was otherwise the same as Reeve's, though its crown was daintier. The white one looked like it was sleeping as Rufus looked down at it and said, "I'll name you...Stray Hope." (2)

The cat's tail twitched, then it sat up and said in a very feminine but formal voice, "Name registry 'Stray Hope' accepted and verified." It then blinked _open_ its eyes to show golden cat's eyes, and said happily, "Hi, nice to meet you! I'm Stray Hope. What's your name?"

Everyone stared in shock except Reeve, who was grinning widely as he motioned for Rufus to answer. As such, the white-clad blond met the cat's eyes and said cordially, "I am Rufus Shinra. It's a pleasure to meet you."

"Okay, good to know! Especially because you're my best friend," the white cat told him very seriously, the got up and reached her arms up to Rufus, clearly asking to be held.

"Go ahead," Reeve prompted, and Rufus lifted the cat into his arms—where she cuddled against him and started purring.

"...Reeve, exactly _what_ did you create for me?" Rufus asked in clear confusion.

"A Cait Sith which your father will really think is a toy and a companion for you," the older man answered in mild amusement. "I used Jessie's voice to program Stray Hope's synthetic voice—Shalua refused and Shelke's was already taken—but she _does_ have her own personality and is _allowed_ to be a hedonist. She has the same general functions of the other Cait Siths, with an added power supply storage meant to help keep the other of Eden's gifts powered. Of course, when you're out on your trip, you need to take a Cait Sith with you because no one is supposed to know Stray Hope has the same communication abilities."

"I see. Why does she need to have a power supply for Eden's Cait Sith?" Rufus asked, absently petting the robotic cat he held while she kept purring.

The older man paused and rubbed the back of his head as he said, "It isn't actually a Cait Sith. Shelke and Shalua sort of took over the design of it, and Biggs and I were only really able to keep them from making her _too_ cute for a man to want to be seen with. They would have made her pink and purple if I hadn't told them their only options were browns, grays, white, and-or black."

"...That doesn't sound good..." Eden commented slowly, so Reeve turned to face him in some amusement.

"It didn't turn out too badly, when you think about who was involved in making it. Winry said you'd probably be okay once you saw her, especially if you know what yours is able to do," the black haired man explained, then took the smaller, squared box over to the blond teen, who was still sitting in the same chair, just with his pant leg down. "The functions of this model are different from the functions of a Cait Sith, hence why I wanted it to look different. I haven't decided on a product line name for it, yet, but now I know not to let young girls completely take over design.

"Anyway, you like to collect, record, and reference data, and the hardest part of developing her was finding a way to store the data in smaller storage systems than we currently use. You would also need a way to access the data again without leaving it open to anyone to access—I can just imagine the chaos _that_ would cause. As such, you need to designate both a 'true name' and a 'nickname' for her, because her nickname will be her active use name—the one everyone knows—and the true name will be how you access the data she's storing for you, so keep it close."

When Reeve offered the box to Eden, the blond pointed out, "Everyone in this room will hear both, won't they?"

"You can whisper her true name to her, as long as you tell her 'Your true name is' before you say it and register it first. Then you can say, 'but I'll call you' and give her the name she'll introduce herself with," the man informed him. "She won't 'wake up' until you give her both, like with Stray Hope. And to warn you, her voice is—very similar to Shelke's."

Eden opened the box and gazed at the creature in it, which somewhat looked like a dog which could stand upright and had a long, somewhat fluffy tail like a wolf's. The ears on her head looked like floppy rabbit ears, and her face had a distinctly rabbit-ish look to it. Hind paws were soft and her legs were built for jumping, but her front paws were hands without gloves, and there was a tuft on the top of her head. With the device being colored black, Eden found she wasn't 'too cute' for him to be seen with, and she was a little less than half the height of Cait Sith at about one and a half feet tall. When he turned her over, he blinked and stared at the red staff-and-snake symbol he and Izumi favored which was drawn on her back. His gaze lifted to Winry, who grinned and nodded, letting him know the red addition had indeed been her doing.

As he held the device in his hands for a few minutes, he thought about the best name to give her, and suddenly got a crafty grin as he raised her ear to his lips to whisper to her.

 **Notes:**

(1) These monsters sort of look like manta ray bugs in a purple-ish color, and are found in the Northern Crater/Cave in FFVII.

(2) So, since Rufus named his dog 'Dark Nation', I thought about what kind of mindset he'd have been in to do that. Then I thought about how his mindset has changed since Eden's arrival, and figured he'd be in a better frame of mind, hence 'Stray Hope' for this white cat he now owns.


	40. 36-Last Arrangements

**A/N:** Khait Khepri, the scene at the end of this chapter is for you! Hope you like it!

Last Arrangements

When Eden lowered the waking dog-rabbit, she spoke formally, "Name registry complete." Once she'd said that, she hopped up and said cheerfully, "Hi, I'm Libby! (1) What's your name?" Sure enough, her voice was a lot like Shelke's.

"Eden, or Ed for short. Nice to meet you, Libby," Eden answered with a grin.

"Need me to store any data for you yet?" the black dog-rabbit asked curiously.

"I need to find out everything you can do before I start having you record data, so hang tight—maybe play with Stray Hope for a bit?"

"Play?" both asked, perking up at the words, then turning to look at one another curiously.

Rufus gave a snort and put Stray Hope down on the desk again as he said, "Yes, go ahead and play."

"Mind if I join 'em?" Cait Sith asked Reeve hopefully.

"Me too, me too!" the brown Cait Sith Felicia had with her added eagerly. That one had a bit of a younger, male voice.

"Can we play, too?" the girl with Izumi asked, and the boy nodded vigorously.

Everyone stared at the robots and two human children for a moment, then Roy laughed and said, "Yes, that's one way to make people think a useful device is just a toy—having it behave like a child. On the up-side, when there are several of them, they can keep one another entertained when they aren't helping us out."

"When they don't get into fights, the same way _real_ children do," Reeve replied with a small sigh. "Okay, go play. But Cait Sith, you're the oldest, so you need to be responsible and not get into fights with the younger ones."

"Right-o!" Cait Sith agreed, trotting over to Libby.

Izumi looked at the kids with her and asked, "Are you going to behave, Naomi, Ken?"

"We will!" both agreed.

"Go on, then," the woman nodded, causing them to grin widely and join the two robots, Naomi picking up Libby to peer at her curiously. Libby peered back with equally as much interest.

"And me?" the brown Cait Sith asked hopefully.

Felicia rubbed the back of her head, then said, "We don't have long, but you can play for a bit. But, if you complain when I say we have to go, I won't let you do the same thing again, okay, Elf?"

"Okay, I'll be good!" the brown Cait Sith known as Elf agreed happily, running over to join the others as Stray Hope jumped off the desk to join them as well.

"Elf? Really? Pining for your former self, Felicia?" Eden asked her in amusement as the robots and kids moved away from the—mostly adults—to play.

The woman blushed faintly and said, "Not in particular. It was actually Shears who named him that, but I couldn't think of anything better. He showed me some data on what an 'elf' actually _was_ and it didn't seem far off in purpose—though its looks are _way_ off."

The blond Turk's brow rose, then he nodded and said, "Okay, then."

"Are you sure you don't want to join them?" Genesis asked Shelke.

"No, I'm fine," the girl answered, staying quite happily leaning against his side so she could cuddle with him. "By the way, I found the programming error letting them get into fights and fixed it with Libby and Stray Hope. It just means they both have personalities more like mine—mellow. I didn't think you wanted me to just change the other Cait Siths though, and I kinda like our Cait Sith at home the way he is, anyway."

After several of the others chuckled, Eden's gaze moved to Reeve as he said, "Now, I need to know what all of Libby's functions are besides data storage. And how am I supposed to retrieve anything with her not having a screen for me to look at?"

"That's part of her functions," the man answered, sitting across from the blond. "I had to fore-go the power supply system—she has a small one, but it won't last long on its own power unless there's a lot of Mako or pyreflies in the area—because I had to have a functioning retrieval system for you. It's in the trial stages and may malfunction, but for the most part, it should be able to do what it's been programmed for. When you want to retrieve data, she's equipped with a portable holographic projector which will give you a kind of 'light screen' projected image—two-dimensional or three-dimensional—of whatever you asked her for. If the data you wanted was basic text, you'll essentially see the 'pages' with the data on them, since she's mainly taking pictures of the page, and she can also recite those to you if you ask her.

"However, because you deal so much with Lifestream energies and things like that, I also equipped her with sensors and gauges which will read and record energy levels around you—or her—and let her record energy-related data you ask her to. If she can't record it herself, she'll tap into Stray Hope, who will access my independent mainframe for her to register or record the data. If the test I ran with Shelke and a Restore Materia was any indication, Libby should also be able to record things like your casting energy usage on a meter. There are values of a sort to the meter, but she needs to adjust those from person to person because you and Genesis can do much more with a set amount of energy than the average person can. She was also able to measure the energy input, output, and exhaust levels of the Reactors, so she has a good range. If you're heading to places like Mideel and the Northern Crater, those readings may help you avoid Mako sinks."

Reeve paused for a moment, then went on, "But energy is three-dimensional, not two, so her holographic systems will let her develop three-dimensional images, and one of the things she's pre-programmed with is a world globe. I thought about some things I knew you would want, especially since your pending trip in itself is no secret, so she also has data on various areas of the world, including hard-to-reach or rarely-visited ones, on Materia, on monsters, and on the Enemy Skills. You can expand on the data as well as adding your own, and you can designate the data as 'private' or 'public'. What she already has is public, so if you asked her about unique places near Gongaga, she'll access her databank and tell you what she knows. The projector can _only_ be accessed if you use her true name as the code to access private data, so anything which isn't data she can just recite in words or numbers is private by default—images and such."

"I see," the blond Turk murmured as Genesis and Roy both gave impressed whistles and Izumi just stared at the man in amazement.

"I'd suggest the _first_ thing you have her record for you is the arrays you're working on right now, both as they're laid out now and as individual arrays," Roy said right away. "It's one thing for _us_ to see them, but having them in a paper form anyone can stumble on is a definite danger. Having them allocated to the holographic projection will let you keep them close without the risk of someone finding them."

"A flat image we can't adjust to see certain areas more clearly won't help," Eden answered dryly. "It's a good idea to have the record, though."

"Actually, Libby's programming and the interaction holographic devices have of their own accord means you _can_ move things around on the projected image," Reeve said, and all eyes went to him in surprise.

"Explain," Genesis demanded.

The black haired man nodded and told the two working on the array, "If every array is recorded individually, then recorded as a whole unit, Libby has all of the data to show every one of the independent arrays fully, even in the complete image, and she's going to adapt them to both cut off the excess background and fill in the blanks covered by the overlapping sheets. These are simple crop and insert commands most word and photo modifying programs have, and are included in holographic technology. Because each array is a separate entity, you'll be able to reach out and touch one with your finger and move it aside—just let her know not to save the changes, or to save the changes in a separate file. What I meant about seeing a 'page' of text was more if you just wanted her to keep the data on a computer screen or the page of a book, in which case, the 'page' couldn't be modified, itself, but if you called up several 'pages' at once, you'd be able to move each page you asked for around, re-order them, whatever. Have her display the corresponding data on the world globe..."

That produced impressed whistles from nearly everyone in the room, even as Jessie, Biggs, Shalua, and even Shelke, smiled proudly and Genesis said reverently, "You have _got_ to make me one of those!"

Winry even looked mildly surprised as she commented, "You didn't tell me that part. Make me a system like that to work with auto-mail on and I'll be loyal to you forever."

Reeve blushed faintly, then commented, "I can see what I can do for you, Genesis. As for you, Winry—you can make one yourself, to the specifications you want. The data is available in my department, after all."

"Great!" the blond fifteen-year-old grinned.

"Some of us have to head out, though," Felicia cut in, gaze faintly amused. "I still have work to do after escorting Izumi safely home."

"It's not like she needs your protection," Eden told the brown haired woman with a puzzled expression, who nodded.

"Not her physical safety from attackers," the leader of Gaia's Refuge said. "With security being tightened, there won't be any incidences of—Shin-Ra bullying if she's with me. Since the Infantry and some of SOLDIER are being harsh on people from the Slums traveling to the Upper Plate, it'll save a lot of trouble for everyone if we stop the problem before it starts. Academy students and company employees—and Gaia's Refuge's members—are the only ones not being hassled."

Rufus' expression turned sour. "That will have to stop. Unfortunately, I'm not able to do anything about it for the moment. Once I officially take the title of Vice President, I would have some influence in that regard, but that's still over a year away and not nearly soon enough. Does that mean we'll be seeing you again the day after tomorrow?"

"It may be Shears—I have to take a trip to Wutai, and there's a good chance I'll be leaving tomorrow unless something happens to my ride or there's an emergency here I can't leave," Felicia answered, then sighed and faced Izumi. "So, shall we head out?"

With a nod, the woman called, "Naomi, Ken, we have to go." She was echoed by Felicia calling Elf.

The two human kids gave small whines, but said their good-byes to the robots and rejoined her, followed by Elf, who they knew was pouting by the set of his ears and his tail dragging on the ground. Shortly after, they were gone, but as Reeve and Winry were about to leave with the others who had come with him, Rufus called them back. Reeve sent the others (except Winry) ahead back to the office as Genesis sent Roy to rest and prepare for his mission the next day, which cleared out all but Rufus, Eden, Genesis, Reeve, Winry, Cait Sith, Stray Hope, and Libby. The three robots were still playing, so the others settled in seats around Rufus' desk.

"What did you need us to stay for, Rufus?" Reeve asked curiously.

"The Reactors have mainly been modified now and the new plans established, yes?" Rufus asked. "All of the funding has already been allocated and the work begun?"

"They have," the man agreed.

The older blond's gaze moved to Eden as he said, "It occurred to me that your project to return the Materia to energy forms wasn't something I could watch over—not well, at least—while we traveled. As such, I thought Reeve and Winry may be the best ones to watch over it in our stead, and it's highly unlikely anyone would be all that surprised by them taking the idea to the Science Department. Of course, that means you need to tell them your plan if they're agreeable."

Eden glared at the older blond for putting him on the spot like that, then sighed as Reeve echoed, "Return Materia to energy forms?"

"To revert them back to Lifestream energy once they've reached Mastered status—something which is a requirement for them to begin breaking down," Eden explained. "They go through the process naturally once Mastered, but even with regular use, they take thousands of years to break apart back into Lifestream energy to return to it. The difference is that a Mastered Materia has a great deal more energy to return to the Lifestream than what originally formed it, and all but its creation energy came from a source _not_ Lifestream energy. With how fast the Reactors are sucking Lifestream out of the Planet, having Zack able to Master Materia so fast puts them into a state where they can be returned, which returns _more_ energy than the shard took in the first place. Finding a way to return them faster, to restore the lost energy, is what we need to work on, and with me having to work on the arrays for Felicia around all my other work, this gets put on the back-burner. If the Science Department can take it..."

"So you need someone who can give the data to the Science Department and check in with them every so often for their progress, is what you're saying?" Winry asked curiously.

"That was the plan," Eden agreed, feeling tired suddenly.

"I think Winry and Reeve will be good choices, just for the fact that they'll know enough to recognize discrepancies," Genesis agreed. "They don't need all the details to do it because they have some basics—they don't need our level of knowledge."

"I know that," the Turk scowled at the SOLDIER. "I just..."

"Don't like giving up your ideas to people you don't know or trust," Winry finished the thought in amusement, making the others look at her. "Don't worry, we can watch over it and let you know if something looks wrong or doesn't add up."

"That we can. It sounds intriguing, actually, and Rufus is right to say it wouldn't be out of place for my department to look into something like that—to better society, you know?" Reeve said in amusement. "Do up some data for me and send it over. I'll take it from there."

"Okay, I'll do that," Eden agreed. He suddenly felt a lot better knowing Winry was one of the ones it was being turned over to. "Thanks, both of you."

"If that's all now, we also have work—quite a bit of it—to get back to," Reeve said, rising. At the nods from the two blonds, he added, "Thank you for trusting me with one of your projects, Eden. We'll be in touch. Come on, Cait Sith."

"See you around. Have fun, Winry," the blond answered.

"Don't worry, I will," the girl answered cheerfully as the two left, Cait Sith joining them at the door.

With a sigh, Eden gave his head a shake, then retrieved his sock (he only wore the one on his flesh foot) and boots to put them on. As he did, Rufus commented, "It may be wise to get Libby to start working, since we'll be leaving here before too long."

"Go grab your copy of the arrays so we don't have to break the laid-out one for her to copy each one individually, Genesis," Eden said as he moved back over to the array.

Genesis raised a brow and commented, "You should stop issuing orders to people, Eden. Not that I mind following this one, if Rufus is fine with that, but some others likely won't take it well."

The younger blond looked up at him in surprise, then blushed faintly and said, "Sorry. My mind was already back on the array."

With a shrug, the red haired man looked at Rufus with a raised brow. When Rufus gave a nod, the red haired man walked out.

Into the resulting silence (besides the noise Stray Hope and Libby made as they played a clapping game), Eden asked, "So was Reeve just guessing what he should put in the existing database?"

"Not quite," Rufus answered. "Well, I didn't ask him for a globe or map, and I had already researched most of the locations in the world which would be potential locations for hidden treasures, so didn't ask for those. Having a quick-reference database of the important points seemed practical, however. I didn't expect him to add all that to the device he was making for you."

Eden frowned as he commented, "We're traveling to find you the Enemy Skills. Why did you ask him to include Materia data?"

"Because I know your reputation for finding rare Materia, and it would truly be a waste—and a shame—not to go hunting for the very rare ones while looking for Enemy Skills. As such, part of our route will be for the purpose of collecting Materia, and I planned to visit the Materia Mines as well as other locations specific to finding Materia, not just Enemy Skills. Tseng is aware of that as I had to ask him where you had already searched, so has planned an extra person or two to join us as far as the Mythril Mine."

"Why as far as the Mine?" Eden asked in confusion, looking up at the older blond for the first time since the others had left.

"We need to actively participate in the Chocobo Races at the Chocobo Farm (2) to get some of the Materia. Since I gather you don't ride much, we needed a few people who could deliberately earn first, second, and third place," the older blond answered, going back to his paperwork.

"...Okay, then I think you need to sit down with me to show me this route of yours," the younger blond answered dryly.

"Later—likely tomorrow," Rufus agreed absently, mind on the papers in front of him.

Soon after, Genesis had returned with his stack of arrays, and Eden got Libby to start copying them, leaving Stray Hope to curl up in Rufus' lap while he worked. Once the individual arrays had been copied and the whole array registered in Libby's systems, Ed activated the holographic projection by whispering her true name to her so they could see how it worked. Genesis and Eden both fell completely in love with it when they realized they could move around every array as groups or individual items as they saw fit. Libby's new program was going to make their lives a lot easier.

SH

The next afternoon was Eden's next day sorting storage, and it went about as well as it did any other day, though Reno shooed him out around eight because he apparently had a date he really wanted to go out on that evening. That left Eden with an extra hour of time he could take to relax, but he was still too wound up to want to sleep just then. He wandered absently back towards his apartment, getting in the elevator—only to see Riha already in it.

"How are you, Eden?" she asked in faint amusement. "Skipping out on your keeper?"

"No. He sent me away early so he could get ready to go out on a date," Eden replied with a chuckle. "That's his choice, so Tseng's free to lit into him if he wants." Both chuckled, then the younger blond asked, "How have you been, Riha?"

"I just got off duty," she told him, smiling. "Care to join me for awhile? We haven't really had a chance to talk since the day we arranged my new job."

He paused, then agreed, "Okay. Your place or mine?"

"Which do you prefer?" she returned in amusement.

"...Probably yours," he admitted. She gave him a knowing look—him choosing her place meant he had an out if he really felt he needed to leave because it wasn't his own place, a place he'd have no real choice but to stay in.

It didn't take long to get there, and Ed sat on the living room couch as the older woman got them some drinks from the fridge. Once she'd handed his to the younger blond, Riha sat on the opposite end of the couch from where he had chosen to settle.

"I really wish this furniture wasn't gray," Riha sighed as she leaned back. "I love the way it's made and the texture, but—this city has far too much gray in it."

Eden snorted and said, "I haven't even had time to change out the blanket since I got here. At least it's functional." Really? _That_ was her opening comment?

She gave a wry chuckle and said, "Yes, Turks seem to be abhorrently busy. I've had time to make a few changes, mostly linens." She pointed at the landscape image of someplace in Wutai (a single tower in the distance in the image showed the location) above the couch and added, "That was accidental when I went with Ruluf one day." When Eden's brow rose questioningly, she clarified, "The first man we were supposed to talk with said I should take it, and after he'd handed it to me, we went to question a second target. While Ruluf was doing that, I found a note slipped into the back of the frame. We knew who we were after with that note, and Ruluf told me to keep this to commemorate one of the more amusing missions we'd ever work on."

"That's funny," Eden chuckled. "If only more missions were like that."

"Like Deepground?" she asked quietly.

"...How much do you know about that?"

"Everything in the Turks' file on it. I've seen one case which was similar in Amestris—that was before you joined. It wasn't pretty, and the result was pretty much the same...we'd had to kill everyone, even the victims. I think we only had one survivor in about fifty, and that one had only been there for a few days. Looking at people like Sora or Shelke...Their strength...and yours...is incredible. Did you ever truly face the incident, though?"

With a sigh, Eden rubbed his face and said, "I told Al they had been tortured to the point where they just...they were like soulless dolls, so I killed them. He didn't take it well, and I don't think he realizes how much it hurt me. When I was on my own, I spent a lot of time crying, but I didn't have the words to describe it. With Rude, I did try, but..."

Riha sat up and reached over to rest her hand on his shoulder. "Killing in the heat of battle is intrinsically different from acting as a knowing executioner. Sniping is effectively also acting as an executioner. Every time I pull the trigger on my sniper rifle, I know I'm taking a life without mine even being in danger, and often without anyone else's being in danger, either. Then, I ask myself why I'm doing it. Do you have an answer for that question?"

The younger blond sat forward to rest his elbows on his knees and linked his fingers so he could lean his forehead on them. "Why am I...?" He was quiet for a minute before saying, "Because those people have no lives in this reality anymore, or they're planning to destroy the world, or because so much suffering is the world's self-destruct button. I _know_ that—but it doesn't make it hurt less."

"Ed...Why are _you_ choosing to do this, not just 'someone'?"

His shoulders shifted and he shook his head. "Hawkeye, when I saw them there, blind to the world or mindlessly tearing into one another...all I could feel was...pity. The horror came after that. What were they? Even when I saw Nina, the horror came first, then sorrow—I never even made it as far as sorrow when I saw the states they were in. Why did _I_ kill them? Because I couldn't stand to see them like that anymore. That's it."

At the raw pain in his voice, she slid over to him and pulled him against her in a comforting hug. "That was what I thought in that one case in Amestris, too. I killed them because they were blank, they wouldn't miss their life, and it just hurt to see them like that. And Edward, you weren't wrong to do it. As long as you can still feel pain for having needed to take that route, you aren't in danger of becoming a cold-blooded killer. But you _do_ need to deal with it and let it go, because you're going to run into more situations like that in your time with the Turks, and you'll need to have the strength to do the same thing again. Hopefully never on such a large scale, though. You don't need to be guilty for it."

He nodded against her shoulder and just kept his face hidden there for some time as she let him work through what she'd given him to think about. While he was doing that, Riha reassessed her first discussion with him, what he'd told Al, and realized he had be careful about how much he'd told his younger brother, and that he had, in fact, been right to do it. Al would have been blindsided by such suffering and likely lost his mind with an inability to deal with it if he hadn't been given forewarning. She ached for the pain Eden had to carry with him now.

 **Notes:**

(1) Yes, I'm keeping Libby's actual name secret for awhile, but I've already decided it! :P The name is the same in both FoW and SH.

(2) Keep in mind that the Gold Saucer hasn't been built yet—as far as I know, it was actually built on the remains of Corel (and that was why Corel became a prison), which was destroyed in 0003. As such, the Farm is the main location for Chocobo Racing in December 00 and January 01.


	41. 37-Extreme Measures

**A/N:** In the first part of this chapter, be aware that Sephiroth is the only person who actually had NO chance of doing this because he's the only one aware there's a problem. Trickster32, you've been waiting for this, though it still hasn't resolved the issue completely, and there will be one more scene you'll like later on.

Also, I STRONGLY DISAGREE that this solution (the locked-in-a-room part) is actually feasible or logical, and I'm only using it now because Al is intrinsically inclined to 'play nice', even when he's angry. He has NEVER felt like he wanted to kill someone, angry or not (Ed did at least twice in the series, but the only time he went through with it was against 'Father' at the end, which wasn't quite 'death' by that definition). In real life, this is more likely to end badly than to end well, regardless of how many people think this is the solution to get two people who hate one another to get along.

Extreme Measures

It was December thirty-first, and Al, Shalua, Elena, and Shelke had gone out for lunch at a restaurant away from the Shinra building. Well, the girls had decided to go, and had dragged Al along 'because he didn't get out nearly enough.' They had also been playing some Battle Pets along the way, largely so they could get Al to the breeder's ranch to get copies of his starter and the rare he'd gotten early on. After eating, they still had classes, so had to head back to the Shinra building.

They were just arriving there when a hand seized Al's elbow, making him turn to look at a Turk with red hair and red marks on his cheekbones who he recognized in passing, but whose name he didn't know. He was puzzled by why he'd been stopped, but the Turk resolved that by asking, "You any good at martial arts, Elric?"

"I had the same teacher as Ed—en," Al replied flatly.

"Good. Come with me, yo! I got someone who needs some major survival tricks soon," the Turk replied, dragging the blond towards the elevators.

"Hey!" the younger teen yelped, trying to pull his arm back and not get dragged along. He found very quickly that this Turk had a vice-grip.

"Reno, we have classes," Elena called after them, a clear glare in her voice. "Let him go!"

"I'll clear it with yer teachers, yo," the Turk, Reno, called back, dragging Al into an elevator and sending it upward to the floors in the fifties.

"Shouldn't it be _your_ job to teach whoever it is?" Al asked in annoyance once Reno had let him go. There was no one else in the elevator.

"Yeah, but I got me a hot date I ain't gonna give up, yo," Reno shamelessly admitted with a smirk. "So, you're gonna teach the guy some tricks, keep 'im from gettin' into trouble 'til someone relieves ya, 'n' you go on yer way. Simple, yo."

"You're skipping out on your _job_ for a _date_?" the blond gaped at him in shock.

"You bet, yo!" the red haired eighteen-year-old grinned.

Al held a hand to his head tiredly, asking, "And you can get away with that _how_?"

"That'd be thanks ta you, yo," Reno smirked.

"And if I refuse?" the younger of the two asked in annoyance, glaring at the older teen.

"That ain't an option," the Turk shrugged as they reached their floor and the elevator door opened. Reno was again pulling on Al's arm (producing another 'Hey!' from the blond) to drag him off the elevator and down a long hall. It didn't take long for the Turk to get to the door he was heading for, open it, and toss Al into the room, calling to the occupant, "Here ya go! Have fun, yo!" He then bolted from the room, pulling the door shut behind him.

"You!" a familiar voice scowled, and Al straightened—only to meet Rufus Shinra's angry gaze. "Get out of here! I would prefer the gambler to _you_!"

Al's brow rose, then he asked with a little smirk, "So, where's my brother? Shouldn't he have _already_ taught you to defend yourself, or been doing so now?"

"This is his _scheduled_ day off, and I've never _asked_ him to teach me," Rufus bit out. "Now, leave."

"Oh, you never asked? Were you afraid you wouldn't measure up?" Al asked sweetly.

Rufus snarled and jumped at Al—only to find himself flipping upside down and hitting the floor (thankfully it was covered in a sparring mat) head-first, causing him to yelp in pain. He had expected further blows, but when none came, he opened his eyes to stare at the younger blond, who was biting his bottom lip thoughtfully.

"Leave," he snarled, shoving himself to his feet in anger.

"So...what'll happen to you, and to me, if I leave you without a guard?" Al asked, part of him wanting to go and part of him knowing he couldn't.

"That's _my_ business. I'll just practice by myself," Rufus replied, making a show of dusting his suit off.

Rolling his eyes, the younger blond asked, "Exactly _what_ are you going to 'practice by yourself' when you don't know what you need to practice in the _first_ place?" Al had to admit it was amusing to watch Rufus flush red at the words, but before the older blond could say anything, Al had pulled out his PHS and dialed Tseng's number as he added, "I'm calling Tseng."

The phone was answered almost immediately by the Wutain as he asked, "Is something the matter, Alphonse?"

"Yeah, apparently Reno was supposed to be guarding Rufus and giving him some combat lessons, but he ditched to go on a date, and left me with Rufus. Can you send someone to take over, please?" Al asked. Rufus just stood there, glaring at him.

"Oh, for Titan's sake..." Tseng sighed tiredly. "Until three, I literally have no one I can send to you, so your only options are to drop him off here or stay there with him until then."

"I have to stay and 'guard' this spoiled brat for _three hours_?" Al asked with a cross between a whine and a scowl.

"I beg your pardon?" Rufus snarled.

"Oh, for—" Tseng began, sounding momentarily exhausted. His voice then hardened as he said, "Fine, since both of you apparently have sticks up your asses, you can stay there until you work out your issues. Someone can go looking for you later, whenever it's convenient, as apparently Reno accidentally locked you in there." He then hung up, even as Al flushed, then held the PHS away from his face to stare at it in horror.

"What did he say?" Rufus asked warily upon seeing Al's expression.

The younger blond turned to face the door and tried to open it—and sure enough, it was locked. "Oh, my God...He's leaving us here until someone can come get us out, and—Reno really locked us in..."

"He what?" Rufus asked, voice tense as he joined Al at the door to test it. He got the same result as Al—it was locked. From the outside.

The two stared at one another in horror for a minute, then both glared and turned away from one another, Rufus to sit down on the floor near the door and Al to explore the room. He quickly found that it was frequently used for sparring, and had many types and skill levels of weapons in it. It reminded him of a beginner's trial room, where a newcomer would learn some basics and figure out which weapon was best for them—he thought it was one of the Turks' training rooms, knowing they actually used a variety of weapons. To that end, most of the weapons had a padded version, and Al eyed the padded, spongy staves for a minute before picking two up and returning to Rufus. He couldn't wait to show up the brat again.

The older blond wasn't paying any attention to his surroundings at all, so Al tossed one staff hard onto the older blond's head, producing a yelp and a, "How dare you—"

Al cut him off with, "If you _don't_ pay attention to your surroundings, you'll get yourself killed in short order. It's not like I was hiding myself—but what if I'd been a wolf or a tiger, instead? That whack on the head would have been a bite to your throat." Rufus stared at him in shock, so he went on, "Get up. Let's just—fight for a bit. It's better than doing nothing. Unless you're _scared_?"

The taunting did the trick and got Rufus up with a snarl as he seized the staff Al had dropped on him. They fought with the padded staves, Al obviously the more skilled of them, but as they let off steam, Rufus began improving his skills by example. As his skills improved, both grinned at one another. Even though they didn't really want to admit it, they were having fun. They managed about half an hour before Rufus was too tired to keep going, so they both sat against one wall to rest.

After a silence, Al commented, "You learn quickly."

Rufus made a 'hmph' sound, then stated, "You went easy on me."

"I wasn't trying to hurt you, you know."

"You would have reason to, 'estranged brother'."

For a minute, Al was silent, thinking about the words and trying to figure out for himself why he didn't want to hurt his rival. Finally, he said, "I spent five years living in what was effectively an isolation tank, and the only real benefit I'd had was that the 'isolation tank' was mobile, thanks to my brother." Rufus frowned at him in puzzlement, but remained silent. "I met someone else in a—similar situation, and he asked me how I even knew 'I' really existed. After all, memories are easy to fabricate, so what proof did I have that I'd always been alive?" He was quiet for a moment before going on, "I accused my brother of creating me for his own convenience."

Rufus' eyes widened and he asked, "Is that why he left your hometown?"

Al smiled sadly and gave his head a shake. "No. We ended up beating the crap out of one another...In the body I'd had then, I had the advantage, and Ed was still recovering from injuries. But I'd hurt him so much with my accusation that he found a way to win, and as we laid there after, with Winry standing over us, he started asking me about my memories. Not memories we'd shared, but ones I'd had when he wasn't there with me, so Ed didn't have them. Then Winry said she had some of those same memories if she'd been there in mine, even offering some of her own I'd been there for when Ed hadn't. I realized he _couldn't_ have fabricated _those_ memories, otherwise Winry wouldn't have them, too...And Ed had made his injuries worse just to prove to me _I was real_."

The younger blond stopped, then sighed. "After our mom died and all we could do was watch, then after that...struggle over my own existence, I thought life was too important to waste. I had never liked hurting people in the first place, but I really wanted to...save everyone, even if...I knew I couldn't. I guess I didn't hurt you for the same reason I always tried not to hurt criminals—you've all still got lives, and it will hurt the people you care about, who care about you, too, if you're hurt. There are still people you're important to. Who would I really be helping by hurting you? Simply, I wouldn't be helping anyone. Then, I'd feel guilty for being so petty...and that's not the kind of person I want to be."

Rufus huffed, but was silent for a few long moments before saying softly, "My mother had been the creator of the Turks and their first Director, but before I was born, she had received a crippling injury. Despite that, she'd had power and strength—and even joy. She could still smile honestly when meeting friends or new acquaintances, but apparently, my father didn't like that. I was eleven, watching from behind the door as Veld shot my mother."

"Veld?" Al asked, knowing he'd heard the name somewhere before, even as he felt ill to hear a man could have his own wife murdered.

"Tseng's predecessor," Rufus replied. "He hired Eden and forced him on me. That was the first time...as I began to realize Veld had shockingly little control over one of his most powerful Turks...that I began to think there was more to Veld's actions that day than a cold-blooded murder. As I had gotten to the door, I had just heard words—words I hadn't wanted to face. Thanks to Eden...I remembered my mother saying something was 'the only way,' and 'Please take care of Rufus for me.' Veld replied—and this was especially what I didn't want to face—'I will, Lady Shinra. Please forgive me.' It was only after he'd spoken that he shot...I had never seen my mother's face so I don't know what kind of expression she'd had, but it had looked...oddly peaceful in death."

Al blinked, then said, "That makes it sound like she thought she was doing some good by dying right then, and like Veld didn't actually _want_ to kill her."

Rufus nodded absently. "My father...is a shockingly exacting taskmaster with no visible feelings for anything but money. Without my mother, I was forced to study and achieve results far beyond what was reasonable. I was beaten for mourning my mother...forced to become cold, and hatred wasn't far behind that cold. The Turks were the only ones helping me retain any of my humanity, but that wasn't much—until that blond whirlwind you call a brother decided to throw it all back in my face. The brat...but I can't do without him as long as my father is alive and has any power over me. I'd go right back to being cold, hateful...destructive."

"...Wouldn't that be easier?" the younger blond asked, a sense of cold dread settling over him.

"I had thought so," Rufus sighed. "But...it turned out to be easier to care, to know there were people who would come to me for help, or who I could go to for help—not because I'm President Shinra's son, but because I'm Rufus, and friends help each other. Friends I wouldn't have without Eden. They would still just be—minions to me, people to use up until their worth ran out, then to throw them away and find new ones...I'd have been just like my father to all the same people I...most want to see healthy and happy."

The words pained Al for several reasons. The most prominent of those was the realization that trying to separate Rufus and Ed would have lasting and devastating repercussions, and by extension, that meant he couldn't do it. Following that realization came the one which meant he had to be the one to back off and stay out of his brother's life, since nothing would happen to the world at all if _he_ lost his brother...With Rufus, it was another story. Rufus had won, Ed was _his_ brother, not Al's anymore.

He didn't realize how much pain crossed his expression right then, or that Rufus saw it, he just rubbed his eyes to force away the tears which had gathered in them. There would be a time to cry later, but not then or there. Once they were under control, he sighed, shook off the pain, and pushed himself up, saying to Rufus, "Let's start, then."

"Start what?" Rufus asked in surprise.

"You need to learn some martial arts to help your survival, remember?" Al asked in faint amusement.

"What do you think you can teach me in a few hours? A few punches or kicks?" the older blond snorted.

"A few punches or kicks you know really well stand a better chance of saving your life than a dozen you barely know," the younger blond replied.

Rufus huffed, but rose and let Al teach him a few very useful counterattacks with his fists and feet to use in dire situations.

SH

Most of the planning for their journey was done as of December thirty-first, and it was just a matter of timing for the last of their travel party to be able to join them. The Turks were all available, but Roy would only be off his infusion recovery sometime on January first and the last two SOLDIERs would be back that day as well, so they would be leaving on the second. Their main travel group was established as Eden, Kamil, and Freyra from the Turks and Genesis, Roy, and Kunzel from SOLDIER, along with Rufus (obviously), Libby, Stray Hope, Dark Nation, and one of Reeve's Cait Siths. While Dark Nation was combat-capable, the three devices weren't, and the only thing they could all be grateful for was that Dark Nation seemed to like the robots well enough—and Libby and Stray Hope just didn't fight with one another, leaving Cait Sith to follow their example.

Tseng gave Eden that day off from his storage room sorting so he'd be able to visit with his brother and friends, as well as with Aeris, which Eden had to do because Tseng had given him a letter for her. That day, he spent time with all the Academy kids and the two Cadets, with Rude, and with Vant, Sephiroth, and Angeal. Vant especially surprised him by how much he'd come out of his shell by having Sephiroth and Anthony to be a father to. He also visited a bit with the other available Amestrians, Riha, Fuery, Roach, and even Amal when he stopped by to report on his monster exterminations. While he would have also liked to visit with Balto, he was away on a mission by then.

It was around supper time when Ed got to Al's and knocked on the door, Libby at his feet—only for a rather depressed and surprised-looking Al to open the door. "What are you doing here, Ed?" Al asked quietly.

"We're going on a trip shortly and will probably be away for awhile, so I was given time off sorting to visit everyone before we left," Ed replied. "Are you okay? You look—depressed."

The younger blond gave a small smile and said, "I hadn't planned on company today."

"...Can I come in?" Eden asked. "I _do_ want to visit with you before we leave."

"Why?" the younger of the two asked, seemingly puzzled.

"Uh, because you're my brother," Ed answered dryly. "Why else? Seriously, Al, what's wrong? You shouldn't even have needed to ask me that."

After a moment, Al opened the door wider and said, "Fine, come in. Like you said, you won't have another chance for awhile. I'll make enough food for two."

Ed stepped inside with Libby following, and closed the door as Al went back to the kitchen to add to what he'd started to make, and the older blond just watched him for a minute. Finally, he said, "Whatever's wrong, if you ever need to talk with me, just give me a call, Al. PHS's work everywhere on the Planet, so I'll never be out of range, and I plan to call you to see how you're doing every few days."

Al gave a faint smile without looking at the older blond, his gaze focused on what he was doing with the food. "Thanks, Ed. Just...thanks."

By the time supper was done, Al had started to cheer up some, especially when he met Libby, and about an hour after supper, Eden finally made it to Aeris' home, knocking on the door as he grinned. It had been awhile, and would be another while before he'd see her again, which was probably the reason Tseng had let him take the day off from sorting. When the door opened, Aeris gave him a grin and a hug before inviting him in. Then Libby hopped up to greet the girl cheerfully, prompting Eden to introduce the robot to Aeris and Elmyra. Carbuncle reappeared just then, and Libby and Carbuncle went to play hide-and-seek in the garden surrounding the home. Finally, the three humans sat at the table with some tea, and Eden gave Aeris the letter from Tseng, waiting quietly while she read it.

When she finished, she looked up and asked, "You're going on a trip?"

"Yeah, a pretty long one," Eden agreed. "Rufus wants to travel and explore a lot of dangerous areas, so it was best for me to visit with you now rather than putting it off for later on."

"You aren't going to tell me you're likely to die, are you?" the girl asked worriedly.

He blinked in surprise, then chuckled. "No, we're all good. It's just going to be a really _long_ trip, even if we're doing parts of it by airship. I mean, the first two segments of the journey the way Rufus split them up will probably take at least three weeks because we have to walk, and when we get up into the Northern Continent, the time will increase by the number of monsters we have to fight. Especially with the purpose of our trek taking us right into the Northern Crater."

Aeris' eyes widened and she repeated in alarm, "The Northern Crater? Where Jenova was sealed for thousands of years?"

Shrugging, the blond said, "Yeah. It's the last place we're going, though, and we all know we'll be ready to fight them by the time we get that far."

Giving her head a shake, she replied, "But the monsters there are much stronger than everywhere else in the world, Eden. And it's not just the monsters, it's the terrain, and the weather. The Crater isn't stable, and you could easily get lost in the caves riddling the area or get caught in cave-ins, and add to that the blizzards and cliffs and—"

"Aeris," he cut her off with an amused look. She silenced, so he said, "We accounted for that. SOLDIER Seconds can fight everything up to the Great Glacier easily, and they only aren't sent solo to the area because of the numbers. We're going to have equivalent to two Firsts and a Second, as well as three Turks, one of whom knows northern climates well after having lived in them for most of his life. We may end up with others later on, but the two Directors of the two programs agreed our current group should be able to handle it easily, especially if we don't start there."

The girl was quiet for a moment, so her mother took the opportunity to ask, "When are you leaving?"

"Right after breakfast on the second. This is my last chance for a visit that I'm guaranteed of until we're done the whole trip, even though we're going to be stopping back in at Midgar, Junon, or other agreed-upon locations between each leg of the journey so everyone can rest and the President can see for himself how his son is doing. In the case of our first two parts, we're going to end up in Junon at the end of the walk the first will be, so that counts as our check-in before heading to Costa del Sol, but we're probably only going to spend a day or two there. It's after the second part when we'll possibly have a few days or a week between each of the other legs," he explained.

"And you're really going everywhere, even to all the islands nobody usually cares about?" Aeris asked suddenly, gaze intent.

"That's the plan," Eden agreed.

"Some you can't get to, even with an airship, because the airships can't land on them," the brown haired fifteen-year-old pointed out.

"We've thought of that, too, and our only real option is with some help from the Summons—just enough to go from the airship to the ground and back again. I asked mine if they minded, and they were fine with it if it was just a small jaunt like that, as long as they also got to stay free for a bit afterwards to look around."

"Well, at least you have that much," Aeris agreed. "Now, how is Tseng actually doing? No one will tell me anything."

At her pouting face, the blond Turk grinned and said, "Don't worry, he's fine. Tired from randomly getting command dropped on him a lot sooner than he was expecting, but fine otherwise. I think the thing he likes least about his new position is his inability to go out and investigate things himself in most situations."

"Really?" the girl asked in surprise, then grinned. "He did always like wandering around some. And have all of the Healers got seeds nearby?"

"Yes, they do now. The only one we had missed at first was Fuery while he was in lessons and getting started in his new job," the blond informed her.

"Good!" Aeris sighed in relief, then smiled happily.

They went on to other general discussions, and Eden was happy when he left—also because it meant he was going to get to sleep at a reasonable time rather than much later.


	42. 38-Setting Out

Setting Out

On the morning of January second, the group set for the journey gathered in Rufus' office, joined shortly by Zack and the other remaining Second from pre-Deepground Raid, Luxiere. As soon as he got there, Zack tossed a small bag to Eden, which he caught as Tseng and Lazard arrived. "Got that done. Oh, and most of the kids have the ones you wanted me to give them—I've been handing them off as I finished pairs, from youngest to oldest. Who do you want me to give the 'other' ones to?" the black haired First asked the blond Turk.

With a wry grin, Eden said, "Tseng is a good place to start with that pair."

"What pair?" Tseng asked in mild confusion.

"I'll fill you in when I get back," Zack grinned at the Wutain, who nodded in agreement.

Meanwhile, Eden dug in the bag and pulled out a red orb, which he turned and handed to Rufus. "That's one of the ones I wanted you to have, and it looks like it's Mastered, which is great. Slot it now, since it's going to be your main defense."

The older blond took it and slotted it (1), then looked around and said, "It looks like we're all here now. Tseng, Lazard, you wanted to address us before we headed out?" Meanwhile, Eden pulled out another red orb, retrieved his dagger, and slotted it again.

With a nod, Lazard said, "Yes. Because Zack and Luxiere aren't building an Enemy Skill and aren't designated as your main party, both will join you only if there's a need or purpose for them. Currently, by one of your requested—and needed—stops, you'll have them through the Marsh by the Chocobo Farm, and you'll have Luxiere in Wutai if your timing is correct. Kunzel and Luxiere are both going to use this trip as their promotion, so you should also have Luxiere in the north, with Zack on standby in case things turn out badly. It will be up to you if Luxiere joins you at Bone Village or at Icicle Inn. Also, it was Kunzel and Luxiere who managed to find three more Enemy Skill Materia, the one for Rufus and the ones for Roy and Kamil—I believe Kamil was already given his as well as the one we gave Roy?"

"I have been. Thank you for that," Kamil agreed with a nod.

"In that case, Luxiere, give the last to Rufus, please," Lazard answered.

The dark haired SOLDIER Second grinned as he moved over to the desk so he could offer a yellow Materia shard to the younger blond. "You're really lucky we managed to find these, since they don't duplicate when they Master. We had to check almost every current Reactor for one—I think we only didn't make it to Junon's and Nibelheim's."

"...That's a lot of traveling..." Rufus blinked in surprise, taking the orb. "I had no idea Enemy Skill Materia were so hard to find."

"I only agreed to offer you one because I knew I'd be able to find another," Eden said wryly. "It just would have extended the trip if we'd had to _find_ it before we could start gathering the Skills. Thanks, guys!"

Both Seconds grinned and Luxiere answered, "We got a pretty good hoard of Materia we and the Cadets can use, too, so it was worth it. Nothing overly special, but better than we'd usually have to help us prepare for more difficult missions."

"Win-win," the blond Turk grinned.

"Can we get on with things, please?" Tseng asked tiredly, then turned to the door as it opened—and Cait Sith walked in with a wave.

"Sorry I'm late—I was finishing some new outfitting fer th' trip," the cat said in an oddly toned down accent. When the others stared, Cait Sith added, "One part was th' accent so it's easier fer others to understand."

"I'm sure that's appreciated," Tseng told him, then faced the others again. "Now, the first part of the journey which runs from here to Junon will be taking place entirely on foot, and should take you about five days, unless you stay overnight at Kalm, the Chocobo Farm, or Fort Condor in any combination. I'm expecting you to stay at the latter two, but you'll still have at least two overnights outside, so we've prepared some gear for you. Those should be in the same room where Dark Nation is currently waiting for you on the main floor. In the interests of expedience, when you reach Junon, the various suites in the Presidential Residence there should be ready, as well as outfitted with replacement supplies for your trip across to Costa del Sol."

He paused for a moment before meeting Rufus' eyes and saying, "With our current situation, you'll be able to choose your method across the ocean, but you won't have further such transportation available until you reach Rocket Town, so the more out-of-the-way places you wanted to visit will have to wait. There were three such locations you'll have to reach by airship, but the rest of your journey to Rocket Town will be on foot. The problem will be Mount Nibel in winter, but Cadet Strife has said the mountains are 'passable with caution, as long as you don't get caught in a blizzard.' If you can't pass through the mountains, you may have to go around by the coast, which will still be a trying journey, and a longer one.

"Wutai should actually be the easiest part of the journey thanks to the end of the war and the new situation there, also because all the places you want to reach are in a fairly small portion of the continent. We aren't anticipating trouble or difficulties there, but you may be asked to visit the Emperor on the President's behalf, Rufus. If that's the case, you'll be in the area for upwards to a week. We should know by the time you're done with the previous leg of the trip.

"The fourth part is the extensive one, and will be done almost entirely by airship with short jaunts between close-together locations. We're fine-tuning the best order for the pilot—you'll nominally have use of the Highwind for the journey—but it's going to range from the small islands scattered around to the Mideel and Banora area. Genesis, even when your party stops in your hometown, please remember you're working, not there for a visit."

"Right," Genesis agreed, his expression a little strained.

"What we have some issue with is the temple-like structure on the island south of Junon," Lazard said, and all the others perked up. "We know it's there, and we've sent people to look into it in the past, but no one has ever been able to access it and even trying to blow it up—that was Heidegger's bright idea—didn't work. You can't force your way in, so keep your eyes and ears open for any information on it which we may not know. We're expecting you to have to visit it more than once, unless you simply give up on it, so that's where your time will be spent—trying to solve the puzzles it presents. All other areas you'll be visiting, of the ones we know about, will be less strenuous and less time-consuming. As such, that segment of the journey will be listed as a 'variable timeline' and you may have to let Captain Highwind go back to his other responsibilities until you figure out how to access it."

"At that point, however, there will be a helicopter available to take you to various places if you don't want to—or can't—walk," Tseng added. "Now, the last leg of the journey will be the one from Bone Village to the Northern Crater. The area of Icicle Inn and north is highly volatile and follows no discernible weather patterns—we suspect a monster's involvement, but the issue has never been seriously examined before. Even if you get there in the height of summer, you may still end up caught in a blizzard, so you've been scheduled to return to Midgar for a week while we arrange appropriate supplies for you. Even though it isn't 'normal' for Turks or SOLDIERs to be out of their uniforms, we already got approval from the President to have you wear proper winter gear over them while you're there. If you want Quis or Judet or both—who are also there working on missions—to join you for that segment, let us know so we can send supplies for them as well."

He paused again before looking around at all of them. "In the north, you're all going to have to pay attention to Kamil, and to Judet if she joins you, as they know the northern climates and will be able to keep you out of serious trouble. Part of your supplies will include food, as we don't actually know how long it will take you to get from Icicle Inn to the deepest parts of the Crater and back to Icicle Inn, but those are all details we'll finalize later, closer to the time you'll be heading out there. For now, you'll have some supplies to start out unless you want to buy some at Kalm and Fort Condor, but you should only need a day or two, not several. Does that cover everything now?"

"It sounds like it," Rufus agreed, then looked at Eden. "Do we need to stop at Kalm?"

"Not unless you want to stay there overnight, but it only takes half a day to get there from Midgar on foot, so for timing, the first part of the trip will go faster if we camp out the first night and stay at the Farm the second," Eden answered.

"We'll take some food with us for the first day, then," Rufus agreed, and the other travelers nodded, looking thankful. The President's son then looked at Tseng and asked, "So, will I have a weapon or have you decided against that?"

The Wutain Turk nodded and pulled a holster from his belt, where he'd had it tucked in and hidden by his suit jacket until then. Offering it to Rufus, he said, "It's one of ours, so it packs a punch. I sincerely hope you'll do it justice and improve your aim over the course of the journey. Use the bullets sparingly during the first part of the journey, though, because our shipment is overdue and I could only give you two extra clips. You'll be able to get a proper re-stocking when you get to Junon, with the supplies we'll have there for you."

Rufus took it with a nod and examined it for a moment before slipping his long suit jacket off and pulling the gun on so the holster straps held it to his side under his left arm. He then pulled his jacket back on and picked up Stray Hope. "Thank you. Well, then, it looks like we're ready to head out. Let us know via PHS if there's something else you need to add or something you need to inform us of. Is Dark Nation still in the empty meeting room, or was he moved to one of the storage rooms?"

"Still where you left him, or he should be," Tseng agreed. "Travel safely."

The others gave him wryly amused looks, then the travelers headed out to collect Dark Nation and their supplies. Once they had, their next stop was the train station, then out through the Sector 3 Slums so they could take the most direct route east out of the city on foot. However, as they reached the gate in the built section of the city wall, they stopped to stare.

A tired-looking Felicia and Shears, an exasperated and irritated Cissnei, and a cheerful Aeris were standing there, apparently waiting for them, Aeris with a pack of supplies on her back and another one in her hand. Carbuncle was bouncing beside Aeris, waving cheerfully at the group as well. Kunzel, Luxiere, and Kamil were the only ones who hadn't met her yet, so just watched the others quietly in confusion as they wondered about the fond exasperation they displayed at seeing the fifteen-year-old. Dark Nation, on the other hand, bolted ahead of the group to run right up to the girl, put his front paws on her shoulders, and lick her face, making her laugh and pet him before pushing him back down to all fours so she could rest her hand on his head.

"Aeris...what are you doing here?" Eden asked her warily.

"Oh, I'm going with you. Minerva said I should," the girl answered happily, causing the others to trade incredulous looks. "I even planned to have someone else join you with me, but Cissnei doesn't seem to want to take her bag yet."

Several brows rose as Freyra asked, "What's she talking about, Cissnei?"

"I don't really have a clue, except that apparently Shears and Felicia decided I was supposed to act as Aeris' guard, and when I called Tseng a few minutes ago, he said he'd get back to me on that," Cissnei answered, still looking irritated.

"You know it's dangerous out there, right?" Zack asked her, looking worried.

"Of course," she agreed, then reached out to grab the pole sticking out of her pack. She extended it to reveal a full-size staff meant for combat and said, "I brought my staff just in case, and I'm a really good healer."

"But—" Zack tried to say.

"We don't have time for this," Rufus scowled. "You're really determined, aren't you, Miss Gainsborough?"

"I am," she agreed. Shears and Felicia sighed.

The President's son pulled out his PHS and dialed Tseng's number. As soon as it was answered, he said, "Aeris Gainsborough is apparently very determined to join us, and we don't have the time to stand here and argue about whether or not she joins us. Unless you plan to have someone manhandle her back home—which may not keep her there, regardless—could you just approve things so she at least isn't traveling alone and unprotected?" After a silence, he said, "Good," and hung up.

A surprised, silent minute later, Cissnei's phone rang, and she answered it with, "So, which way am I going?" After a minute, she said, "Got it. Don't worry." When she hung up, she looked at the others and said, "We can head out. For the moment, I'll use what Aeris apparently prepared, but Tseng said he'll have appropriate supplies for the two of us added to what's in Junon. And he said it might be prudent to somewhat disguise her when we're there."

"That's fine," Eden agreed.

"Good. That means we can go," Rufus nodded, and immediately set out again, even as the guards at the gate opened it just in time for him to pass through.

The others followed him, Cissnei grabbing the second bag the other fifteen-year-old was carrying and pulling it onto her back as Zack joined them to put an arm around Aeris. Felicia and Shears walked with Eden long enough to let him know how they had gotten involved—Felicia had been returning to the city on foot and caught Aeris leaving without her usual observer from Gaia's Refuge, so had called Shears, who had appropriated Cissnei on his way to meet them—then the two headed back into Midgar. While Rufus had tried to take the lead, Genesis quickly caught up with him and pulled him back with sharp words about not running away from his guards in dangerous territory.

Soon after, they had established a marching order of a sort for that day, though Kamil and Kunzel would be retaining their positions as forward and rear scout respectively, both just within view of the group and arranged to give them warning of monsters. Eden and Genesis stayed close to Rufus while Zack and Cissnei walked with Aeris just behind the older blond, the first group with Dark Nation and Cait Sith, the second with Carbuncle, Stray Hope, and Libby, who were chasing one another around the three. Roy, Freyra, and Luxiere just watched with amusement from behind them. If the territory had been more dangerous, the formation wouldn't have been so lax.

"So why is Carbuncle still around, anyway? I mean, the whole time you didn't have the Materia on you apparently didn't even affect it," Zack commented to Eden when the group stopped to eat in the grasslands just outside of the wastes around Midgar. They had found the Custom Sweeper, and Carbuncle had automatically cast its Ruby Dust on them so anyone who didn't already have Matra Magic could get it without getting hurt. A single shot from Freyra had put the Custom Sweeper down.

"Let me have a look at the arrays—there may be a detail in them which lets it just stay around until it gets bored or something," Eden answered, closing his eyes to access the Summon Materia.

He began examining the arrays on the now-Mastered Materia, making it a lot easier to see them fully. What he found was that Carbuncle was indeed a highly unique Summon for two reasons—and he wasn't sure if Minerva had done them deliberately or if those changes had been accidental due to the Mako having been exposed to Shelke, or a combination of the two. The first big difference was that Carbuncle literally had an active array, whether a human (or other sentient being) was accessing it or not—that meant it had a fully functional energy supply at all times. It was the second which was especially strange, because the command arrays for the actual summoning and dismissal had been rewritten. It said 'request for both summoning and dismissal or dismissal at spirit's preference' rather than 'request for summoning and automatic dismissal at task end, energy loss, or spirit's preference.'

"Okay, so—this critter is very different from other Summons because it literally has its own on-going power supply and you have to actively dismiss it or it has to dismiss itself because it wants to," Eden answered, and Zack stared at him.

"How can it do that?" the black haired First asked.

"I don't know how it got written that way, but that's what the arrays showed," the Turk replied dryly. "Usually, those particular arrays would say that you request it to come and it'll be automatically dismissed when it's done its task, when it wants to go back, or when it runs out of its immediate power supply. Normally, at least one of those would have happened by the time twenty-four hours had passed, but with Carbuncle's re-written arrays, the last can't happen and it doesn't just get dismissed automatically when its task is done. Then again, I didn't give it a task when I summoned it, and in Corel, I don't think it wanted to hang around, not in a burning town with Ravens running around. So, for Carbuncle, either you have to tell it to leave or it has to want to go."

With a chuckle, the other teen commented, "Well, at least it's kind and cheerful. I'd be worried if a Summon like Bahamut was left to run around like that after being Summoned, but it's not so bad with Carbuncle."

"That's true," Eden agreed wryly.

"Are you going to dismiss it?" the First asked after a moment.

For a minute, the blond was silent as he watched Carbuncle play with Libby and Stray Hope, then shook his head. "For now, I don't have a reason to."

Zack grinned and thumped him lightly on the shoulder. "Yeah, that was my thought."

Soon after, they were moving again, stopping for the evening meal and traveling a bit further that day. They had to stop a bit sooner than usual because night was falling earlier than the last time Eden had passed through, but they had still traveled a good distance, and it was warmer where they were now than it had been in Midgar. Morning saw them eating a meal, then proceeding towards the Chocobo Farm, rather than right to the Marsh and Mythril Mine.

On the way, they found some things like a squirrel-dog in brown called a Mu which apparently liked to burrow under the ground and jump out to attack people, but it also had an Enemy Skill which was referred to as 'Suicide' (2) for some reason. With Carbuncle's protection, they figured out the attack wasn't hurting its caster, but it should have done them a great deal of damage. It surprised Eden a bit to actively realize he had missed an Enemy Skill on his way through the first time, but he felt better when Kunzel said he was the only one who had it before the battle with the Mus had started.

It was about lunchtime when they got to the Farm, and it was a rather busy place with an obvious racetrack of a sort circling it, including some obstacles. The outdoor paddock held several very colorful Chocobos, and a large tent had been set up for food. Near the paddock was another tent where they were apparently taking race registries and bets on the races, which would be starting in about an hour and a half. Freyra, Zack, and Luxiere registered for the races after picking Chocobos the Farm had raised to provide for potential jockeys, then they all sat and ate. While they were waiting for the races to start, they explored.

In the farmhouse, Eden found the 'Inn' and a woman who said she was the farmer's wife and sold the Chocobo Lure Materia for anyone who wanted to find wild Chocobos, either just to ride for awhile or for breeding. Her husband's grandparents ran the Inn housed in the same building she used as a shop, and in the stable, her husband had gysahl greens to give the wild Chocobos so they wouldn't run away. Eden bought one of her Materia for thirty-three hundred gil (3), then went back to talk with the others about whether or not they needed any greens. The answer was 'no', since they were actually trying to get the Enemy Skill Chocobuckle from them, not ride them, and there was only one place they would potentially want to ride wild Chocobos, anyway—the stretch from Corel over to Nibelheim. Carbuncle had found another Chocobo Lure outside and gave it to Aeris.

Finally, it was time for the races, so the group gathered to watch while Zack, Freyra, and Luxiere got their Chocobos ready and led them to the starting line. Most of the other jockeys, the ones who made a living off racing, jeered at those three at first, but the three just grinned. When the races started, it quickly became clear the three of them were very good, switching places with one another more than once and staying ahead of the pack. The last stretch was where they surprised everyone because they had been thinking Zack would be the winner, but Freyra ended up coming in first by sending her Chocobo into a sprint so close to the finish line that Zack couldn't catch up again. Luxiere just laughed at the two as he came in third.

Then came the bet results and the rewards. Only one person had bet on Freyra, and that had been Cissnei, who just smirked at everyone's horror and surprise at the haul of gil she had just brought in because she had bet triple on her co-worker. Her response to the others' amazement was, "Seriously, she's from the same town where hunting is a way of living and high quality wild Chocobos are running around. There was never a question in my mind." As for the rewards, Freyra got the first place prize—their last one—of a Multi-Cut Command Materia (4), Zack got the second place Enemy Away Independent Materia, and Luxiere got the third place Enemy Lure Independent Materia.

They stayed the night at the Farm, then set out in the morning for the Marsh, crossing the mucky area with disgust. Since they had to wait for the Midgar Zolom to show up, they didn't really rush, but they also didn't move too slowly just because of the smell. When the Midgar Zolom caught up to them, Zack deflected it and Carbuncle cast Ruby Dust again—and Zack's one hit against it damaged it enough to cause it to cast Beta immediately. Everyone who didn't already have Beta got it, then Luxiere finished it off and the group proceeded to the solid land just outside the Mine.

At that point, Zack and Luxiere headed back to the Farm while the others headed through the cave, letting the Ark Dragons use Flamethrower on everyone who didn't have it already. Fort Condor was a welcome rest that night, and a pass by the damaged section of the Reactor showed that it had been fixed.

It had been at Fort Condor when Ed had tried calling Al the first time, but had just gotten his answering service. He'd left a message telling his brother to call him back, but by the time they had left Fort Condor in the morning, he still hadn't gotten a return call from Al.

Their next stretch was the day and a half to Junon from Fort Condor, which was largely uneventful, though they managed to find a Zemzelett and use Manipulate on it so it would cast White Wind on them. With that accomplished, they had retrieved everything they needed to in that area, so after camping out one night, their arrival in Junon was welcome.

Eden remembered to change Aeris' appearance as well, and decided to make her blond with green-gold eyes so she would look like his sister. The others were surprised by the change the coloring had on her, even with nothing else changing—the pair could really have been related. The disguise also meant she went completely undetected as they walked through Junon and made their way up to the Presidential Suite so they could rest for that day and overnight. The following day, Rufus had a video conference with his father, so they also stayed there that day, though later in the day, Eden, Genesis, and Rufus went down to the underwater Junon Reactor to see if there were any interesting Materia—and they found the Hades Summon. Eden was still shocked by any 'ghosts' they found on their travels, this time ghost ships in the underwater passage to the Reactor.

At Junon was also the second time Ed tried to call Al, only to get the same result as the first time.

The following morning, the ninth, they left on the usual ship to Costa del Sol and stayed there overnight so they'd be ready for the next leg of the trip the next day.

 **Notes:**

(1) In this path, this is the Carbuncle destined for Rufus (the one Eden already had for him over a month ago in FoW, for those reading both paths).

(2) Suicide is what I'm calling L4 Suicide because there are no 'levels' in real life, but the Enemy Skill instead works based on increments of ability; at certain increments, it does huge damage, but in the in-between spaces, it does none.

(3) This would be before the grandmother, husband, and wife died, leaving only the grandfather and two much younger kids at the farm. The young girl in the stable comments that her grandfather and brother are swindling people since the deaths of the grandmother and her parents, so her mother and father here are being more fair, since they're still alive—the family deaths had been fairly recent in 0007-0008, when the main game takes place. I felt, given the main game's price of a Chocobo Lure (10,000 gil), that 3,300 gil wouldn't be an unreasonable price for it.

(4) Multi-Cut was originally Double-Cut, but the Materia doesn't only allow two rapid attacks, so I'm adjusting the name, but otherwise, this IS the Double-Cut Materia, not a new one. This I kept in because most people can't strike twice or four times at super-speed, but someone with that ability wouldn't need the Materia (Sephiroth and Felicia, possibly a few others). As such, the people who use it are those who haven't been able to develop it naturally, like with the Steal Materia.


	43. 39-Cosmo Connections

Cosmo Connections

From Costa del Sol, Eden led the group down to the beach outside of town. It didn't take them long to find a Beachplug to get Big Guard by using Manipulate, so they headed for the Corel Mountain pass, camping in the grasslands just past the pass exit that night. The next day, they reached the desert and found a Harpy to get Aqualung from, arriving in Corel around dark. The town was mostly rebuilt and the villagers greeted Eden happily, as did the members of Gaia's Refuge who were there to finish up the rebuilding. When Eden asked about Nanaki and Deneh, the villagers said the pair had gone to Gongaga because the desert heat was hard on their sensitive noses. The rest of the blond Turk's companions were puzzled by the discussion, but with the Inn being rebuilt, they were able to stay there overnight.

That night, Ed tried to call Al, and again, the blond didn't answer, so he tried calling Elena to see if something had happened to him. She told him Al was fine, if a little withdrawn and depressed, so Ed tried calling him again—and got no answer.

The next morning, they set out on the way south again, crossing the second bridge he had made—which was still holding up—and into the jungle. On the way, they came across the Touch Mes and were able to get Frog Song—and they were all quite thankful for Carbuncle's protection against being turned into frogs.

At Gongaga, the rest of the group stopped to watch in bemusement as two creatures like mountain lions with orange-red fur jumped on the blond Turk and licked his face while he laughed.

When the two had calmed down, Eden got back to his feet—just in time for Nanaki to ask, "So, why are you back here? I thought you were done in the area, and this doesn't look like a vacation."

"It talks!" Genesis, Kamil, and Freyra gaped, even as Roy, Cissnei, Rufus, and Aeris stared in amazement and Kunzel chuckled.

"How rude," Deneh glared at the group.

"Is it normal for people to react any other way?" Eden asked her dryly.

"Not really. Still..." she sighed.

"Does your race have a name?" Roy asked suddenly, making the others look at him in surprise. "We have no data on you in Midgar, so you aren't registered in the bestiary—probably a good thing as you aren't monsters or animals—but you aren't registered as anything _else_ , either."

The two large cats traded looks, then Nanaki said, "We don't have a racial name in the same way humans do, but we're known as the Moto Tribe, one of the tribes watching over the Cosmo Candle in Cosmo Canyon." His gaze went back to Eden as he asked, "So, why are you here again so soon, Ed?"

"A world tour to collect Enemy Skills—and apparently any Materia I didn't get the last time I traveled," the blond replied dryly. "We have to head to Rocket Town for this leg of the trip so we can get the airship to go to the last three locations on this continent, but we still have stops before then."

"World tour? How far—I mean, are you even going to the Northern Crater?" Deneh asked worriedly.

"We are," Rufus cut in.

"We're supposed to, too. Minerva said so," Aeris added.

Both cat's eyes widened before Deneh said, "That won't be safe." She shook her head, then asked, "But you're determined, aren't you?"

"That was the point of the trip," Rufus answered.

Again, the two traded looks, then Nanaki asked, "Would you let us travel with you from here on?"

"We are—undecided," Rufus replied cautiously. "We return to places such as Midgar and Junon between legs of the journey, and we couldn't possibly keep you hidden from some very unsavory scientists in those places. I don't know if we could find a place to leave you, either. And as you seem to be heat-based—" He paused to motion at their burning tail tips. "—the cold places may be decidedly harmful to your well-being."

"I don't know that it will make a difference. Is there a way we can find out how cold affects us?" Nanaki asked.

"We have to cross through the Nibel Mountains, and it's winter now," Aeris offered, making Rufus glare at her. "If you joined us at least through the mountains, you'd have a decent idea. Of course, winter in the Northern Crater—even high summer there—is twice as bad as the Nibel Mountains in winter."

"I don't think—" Rufus began, only for Genesis to cut him off.

"If you want to travel with us for a bit and prove that you can pull your own weight, we'll have a valid reason to keep you two around. And I have questions for you," the red haired man said with an eager grin.

"I do, as well," Roy agreed quickly.

"Now hold on," Rufus cut in sharply. He then stopped as Dark Nation wandered up to Nanaki, sniffed his nose—and the black Blood Taste's tentacle and tail both began waving happily. He sighed as the two mountain lions traded confused looks, then relented, "If we're going to have this trial, we'll need introductions. Eden?"

"Right," the blond grinned right along with most of the humans in the group. "Meet Deneh, the female, and Nanaki, the male. Deneh, Nanaki, meet—" He proceeded to name all their traveling companions, which was twelve 'people' (not counting himself). When he finished up, he faced the two again and said, "We were going to stay here overnight and leave in the morning, heading for Cosmo Canyon. With the two of you, I think we'll skip the Chocobos—and Libby will be able to record the projection Elder Bugenhagen has since we'll now stop there overnight."

"That will be sufficient," Nanaki agreed.

"Thank you for agreeing," Deneh added. "The Inn here is rebuilt now, too, so you should be able to stay. It might be a bit of a tight fit, though."

"We have tents, so I'm sure a few of us will be able to camp out as long as we have the space to do so," Kamil said, sounding a bit amused.

"I don't mind that, either," Kunzel agreed with a grin.

"Does that mean we have more friends now?" Stray Hope asked curiously from where she had perched on Rufus' shoulder.

"For now," Rufus agreed, sounding a bit tired suddenly.

"Yay!" the white robotic cat cheered, then hopped over to land on Nanaki's back and began babbling to him, barely giving him a chance to reply. The others chuckled in wry amusement as Carbuncle joined her on Nanaki's back, talking just as eagerly as it examined him closely, causing the mountain lion gave an unhappy growl as his ears flattened. It was clear he was asking 'Why did they pick _me_?'

"This way..." Deneh said as she tried not to laugh, then turned to lead the group to the Inn.

They stayed there overnight—Kamil and Freyra stayed outside in tents with the robots, Nanaki, and Deneh (the two males shared one and the two females shared another) while Dark Nation slept by the Inn door and Carbuncle explored the jungle town—and headed for Cosmo Canyon in the morning. That night, they all slept in tents, and the following evening, they reached Cosmo Canyon, where the perplexed townspeople welcomed them a little warily. Eden went with Nanaki—and Libby and Carbuncle—to see the Elder while Deneh showed the others to the Inn. Aeris, Genesis, and Roy all ended up at the Cosmo Candle for part of the night, asking the villagers about it and the two large cats' tail tips, but Kunzel found a place out of the way on one of the upper levels to sit and stare at the stars.

As Eden was leaving Elder Bugenhagen's home and heading back towards the Inn, he saw Kunzel sitting on the ledge and realized he had _never_ seen him without his helmet on. However, right then, his helmet was off and sitting beside him on the ground, which was really the only reason Eden knew it was him—he was the only one in SOLDIER who pretty much obsessively wore a helmet. Curiously, the blond Turk silently joined him, peering at the older man intently as he slipped into a comfortable sitting position a few feet from him, but definitely outside his view. The man's hair was black, shorter on the left than the right, and with his bangs falling to the right side of his face down to the chin. The most remarkable thing about his features was how they were obviously at least partially Wutain, but they were also oddly delicate for such a strong man in a combat role. His eyes were the same bright blue as all SOLDIERs (except Sephiroth) had.

"So, what do you think of my heritage?" Kunzel asked quietly, gaze still on the stars.

"Am I supposed to think something?" Eden asked in reply, blinking in mild surprise at the eighteen-ish-year-old's awareness of his surroundings. That was a Turk skill normally, and pretty rare in SOLDIER.

Kunzel was silent for a minute before giving a wry grin and saying, "I guess with the war over, it's pretty moot. Though, some of the SOLDIERs still have hard feelings and tend to take it out on people with Wutain looks. I look Wutain enough to suffer for that, so I don't show my face."

"The last time I checked, hiding made things worse, not better," Eden commented.

"Only when it's Turks, since they go after what's hidden," Kunzel replied in amusement. "I've never particularly had a problem with the Turks—I even tried out for your department once upon a time—but SOLDIER...Some are great, like Zack and the three at the top, but even Luxiere gave me strange looks until I started wearing my helmet all the time. I think they've forgotten what I look like under it, if they ever knew."

After a silence, the blond asked, "What made you go for SOLDIER instead of the Turks?"

The older man was quiet for a minute before sighing and saying, "Do you know about the firebombing of Kalm?"

"Vaguely. You aren't going to tell me you lived there, are you?" Eden asked warily.

Shaking his head, the SOLDIER gave a wryly amused smile and answered, "I lived in Wutai for my young life, then spent several years in Gongaga. That's part of why Zack and I get along so well—we knew each other when we were kids. But my family history is a bizarre one and I also had family who lived in Kalm, who I stayed with for a few months every few years. I knew Felicia when she was a kid, too. Then the firebombing happened while I was trying out for the Turks...I don't know the details, but I know Veld worked very hard to cover it up. After that, I couldn't just...pretend everything was fine. That's why I couldn't stay with them after, so I went over to SOLDIER. I had to wait five months between, and by then, Zack was applying, so it just seemed fitting. I'd also never been so thankful for Zack's cheer and open acceptance before, either."

"If Kalm had such an effect on you, why did you stay with Shinra?" the sixteen-year-old asked in confusion.

"Leaving would have been the easy way out, you mean?" Kunzel asked with sad amusement.

"Not really. It's just—normally when someone hurts someone else, the one on the receiving end would avoid the harmer as much as possible. Or exact revenge, but against the Turks, I don't think that would have been very practical." The words made Kunzel chuckle with something like mirth. "What I said wasn't that funny," Eden pointed out dryly over the black haired man's chuckles.

Giving his hand a wave as he got his chuckles under control, Kunzel said, "In my personal experience, people bent on revenge or paranoia rarely do what's practical. As for avoidance...Maybe this will sound callous, but it wasn't really Kalm's destruction which bothered me, it was how it was covered up. Towns get destroyed all the time, whether it's by natural disasters, monster attacks, some sort of accident, or a planned attack—I mean, think about Corel and Gongaga. People die. I understand that, and while I would prefer deliberate attacks didn't happen, all the rest still will. Exactly how would I get revenge on a rockslide crushing a town or a tidal wave washing it away? How would I avoid the natural cycle of the world? In the name of being brutally practical, what happened to Kalm actually _could_ have been an accident or not part of Veld's plan."

With a sigh, the SOLDIER went on, "But whatever happened or why it did, the destruction was one thing...The cover-up was another entirely. Those people were never sent on properly, their existences erased just because the President didn't want any bad publicity, and I think Veld shut his feelings down because the President ordered _him_ to make his home, his wife and daughter, vanish like they had never existed. The Infantry were the ones who firebombed Kalm, but the Turks had the soul-crushing work. I'm a lot of things, but not...I can't pretend people I knew never existed, and I can't justify making them disappear. As soon as that happened, I knew I could never be a Turk, because those were the kinds of things I'd have to do eventually."

He shifted and lifted his helmet into his lap to stare down at the three infrared lights glowing on the front of it. "On the other hand, Fort Condor wouldn't still be there if Shinra hadn't sent them Infantry and SOLDIERs to fend off a monster attack several years ago, and neither would Gongaga or Corel. Mideel would have fallen into the Mako chasm they have outside town if Shinra hadn't picked up all their homes and moved them over to stable land. Banora would have been obliterated in a firestorm without teams of Infantry sent to fend off the flames. Icicle Inn would have frozen over without the power provided by the Reactors, which also give them heat during long blizzards, which have been getting progressively longer and more brutal over the years. Bone Village almost collapsed under a rockslide and Shinra rebuilt it. (1) Is that _really_ something I should be ashamed to be part of, or that I should avoid?"

Eden stared at him with wide eyes for a minute before nodding and saying, "I guess staying with Shinra would still have been valid, then, even with the bad they've done. And now I know we _have_ to have a viable alternate power supply for places like Icicle Inn in case something happens to the Reactors. After what happened in Gongaga, it's actually possible any town with a Reactor could find it destroyed, especially with Fuhito still at large. I almost hope we find him on this trip."

"Be careful what you wish for, Eden," Kunzel sighed, but gave the younger blond an amused smile. "But it is nice to know Felicia seems to have her head on straight now and is helping the _right_ way. Hopefully, she'll have a viable power supply Icicle Inn will be able to use soon."

The Turk blinked, then blinked again and asked, "How long have you known?"

"Since before AVALANCHE disbanded," Kunzel replied, grinning in amusement. "I just haven't re-introduced myself to her. I don't even know if she'll remember me from so long ago—we were only thirteen when I last saw her."

"You won't know unless you go introduce yourself," Eden said wryly, then yawned and got up. "Thanks for talking with me. I appreciate it. Good night."

"Thanks for hearing me out without crying 'traitor'," Kunzel answered with a smile. "Rest well, Eden. You really need to do more of that."

"Try that when your charge periodically tries to evade you by climbing out his bedroom window in the middle of the night," the younger man replied in amusement, giving a wave and heading on his way back to the Inn, happy to hear a cheerful laugh from the older as he went.

SH

Morning came all too soon, and Eden was woken by a decidedly chipper Genesis sitting on the edge of the bed. "Did you get them to tell you about the Cosmo Candle?" the man asked curiously when he saw that the blond Turk was awake.

"Only that it doesn't have fuel and doesn't go out, and it grows or shrinks based on the amount of Lifestream the Planet has."

"Yeah. Did you know it used to take up almost the whole platform it's on now? As in, there was no space for people to sit up there?"

"No, that I didn't know."

"It started shrinking significantly not long after the Reactors were set up. One Reactor didn't do much, but when there were three, which was about thirty years ago, it began shrinking much faster. I was looking at it last night and decided to see if I could manipulate it the way I do other kinds of fires—and I could. I walked safely right into it, and looked at the ground in the middle of it, where you'd never see it unless it was about to go out. Here's what I saw there."

With the words, Genesis offered Eden a sheet of paper—with a complex array drawn on it, a single array using a seven-point basis and clearly one in free-form. It had no similarity to any other array they had ever seen in the Materia, its closest relative being the arrays Zirconaide worked on. On the other hand, Eden had seen arrays with a similar complexity in Amestris, such as the ones Marcoh had worked on or the one Father set up. What it largely differed in was what it was meant to manipulate, because there were very few of the 'soul' key elements in it and no 'human' or 'living' ones. The references to 'soul' elements were in reference to the 'gauge' points of the flame size, not to manipulate the soul energy.

Frowning, Eden gazed at the array and commented absently, "It looks like one from my home...Cetra definitely had full-form alchemy the way we knew it...Why did they stop? Why did they lose the data? I don't think Minerva was the one who did it, but then again, I think there was a time when she also mostly used free-form arrays, and she only stopped when...people started misusing them...Maybe that's also part of why we can't access that temple Lazard mentioned..."

"The big question actually is, will that help us with the Zirconaide issue?" Genesis cut in to Eden's musing dryly, pointing at the paper.

"I'm not entirely sure, but it might. Libby?" Eden called, and the dog-rabbit hopped onto the bed.

"What do you need?" she asked curiously. Genesis gave an amused grin.

Laying the paper down for her, Eden said, "Save this as the 'Cosmo Candle Array', please, and store it with Zirconaide's data."

"Okay!" she agreed happily, hopping a few times, then stilling for a few moments. "Saved! Anything else?" she asked as she looked back at him.

"For now, we're good. You recorded a lot last night, too, didn't you?" he asked her wryly.

"Yup! Elder Bugenhagen had lots to show me, not just the solar system projection," Libby agreed. "He made the file names public, so you can ask me what they are, but you'll have to use the password to view all but one of them."

"One is straight text data?" Eden asked in surprise.

"A few are, but that one was about a woman named Ifalna. He said Aeris might want to find out, too, since—if his memory still works, Aeris is Ifalna's daughter," Libby explained. "Just in case she wanted to 'view' it alone, he thought it could be public, and in the meantime, no one would think to ask me for data about Gast's travels."

Genesis and Eden traded confused looks before Eden asked, "So what does a Shinra scientist who has been dead for years have to do with Aeris' birth mother?"

"Professor Gast Faremis is her father," the dog-rabbit robot replied.

With a deep sigh, Eden asked, "Could you go get Aeris for me, please, Genesis?"

"Okay, if she's up. We were all up pretty late last night, but she doesn't have the enhancements Roy and I do, so she may still be sleeping," Genesis agreed, rising.

"If she is, we'll worry about having that discussion with Libby later," the blond nodded, and got up to get ready for the day as the older man left.

Several minutes later, while Eden was using his arm as a height pole for Libby to jump over, the door opened and Aeris asked, "You wanted to see me, Ed?"

He snatched Libby out of the air, then said to her, "Aeris, apparently Elder Bugenhagen knew your parents and gave what he knew to Libby. Did you want to hear about them now or wait, and do you want to be alone or with someone else? The data is public, so you don't need me for anything except knowing what to ask Libby to tell you."

The girl's green eyes widened before she slowly moved over to sit on the edge of the bed, folding her hands in her lap as she stared down at them. Eden and Libby went back to playing with testing the height limit of Libby's jumps—she was already jumping over four feet, which was remarkable for her height. It gave them something to do so they could give Aeris her space while she thought about what she wanted to do with what Libby had been told, and it would hopefully help her feel more comfortable so she could make her choice. Eden would have encouraged her to find out, since that would have been part of her 'walking forward', but he really felt it was a decision she had to make for herself.

Finally, she asked, "Is there a reason no one wanted to just rush out and tell me about them?"

"Did your birth mother ever tell you about your father? Anything?" Eden asked in reply as he turned to face her. She shook her head. "I see. In that case, you may not like what you hear, because he was a Shinra scientist—no, not Hojo, before you ask."

Aeris sighed, then nodded and said, "Stay, please? I'll hear it now, since I have always wondered about him. Is he still alive?"

"When's your birthdate?"

"February seventh, nineteen eighty-five."

"In that case, he's been dead since you were twenty days old."

"...Oh. So he probably didn't hand me over to Hojo."

"It would be more likely Hojo killed him because he wouldn't. At least, from the records I saw in Shinra Manor in Nibelheim, he seemed to be—a lot more fair and saw people as human, even when they were participating in an experiment."

She nodded, then asked him, "So, what do I need to ask for to find out about him?"

Facing Libby, Eden said, "Libby, tell us about Gast's travels, please." He sat beside Aeris and set the robot on the floor in front of the two of them.

With a nod, Libby said, "Gast Faremis had a falling out with Shinra and left to travel sometime around nineteen eighty. He visited a few different places before he stopped in Cosmo Canyon, looking for more information about the Ancients. An old tablet had called them the Cetra, but it didn't have much more than that for information. This was one of the best places he'd be able to try to find out more. At the time when he came here, a woman named Ifalna was here (2), and he found out she was the last living true Cetra. He wanted to know more, but he also didn't want to stay in one place too long, so in the name of his studies, he asked her to go with him.

"Gast planned to run some tests and experiments, but those seemed to be simple things like what skills she had which were different from normal humans. The people here had been a little worried, but she chose to go, and Elder Bugenhagen was one of the few who realized his interest in her was more than scientific and hers in him was similarly more than just curiosity. They sent letters every month until Gast's death. The last word he got from the two was that they had settled in Icicle Inn, become a couple, married, and had a daughter, a little girl named Aeris Faremis. Even the letters Ifalna sent back apart from Gast's said they were mainly involved in his scientific studies and they were honestly not very intrusive, but they were slowly falling in love. He thinks they were in love, and knew they both loved you, Aeris, by the time you were born."

After a moment of silence, Aeris leaned her shoulder on Eden's and closed her eyes. She wasn't crying, but she didn't seem to be able to fully process what Libby had said, either.

Eden asked the robot, "Was there anything else?"

"Only copies of their letters—Ifalna's and Gast's to Elder Bugenhagen—but those would need the password to view," Libby answered.

Aeris shook her head and murmured, "Not right now."

"Then that's all, Libby. Thanks," the Turk told her. Libby nodded and trotted out of the room.

The two just sat together for nearly half an hour before Aeris shook herself and said, "Let's go eat so we can head out soon." She was smiling a little sadly as she grabbed Eden's hand and pulled him from the room with her.

 **Notes:**

(1) While these reasons are made-up, there has to be some good things Shinra has done to make people accept their presence, and just providing a power supply wouldn't have been enough to justify what people let them get away with. This goes a long way towards justifying the power they have. Sure, they have self-serving purposes for it, but at least not EVERYTHING they do is actually destructive, either.

(2) This is my headcanon, that Ifalna lived in Cosmo Canyon until she left with Gast. She definitely wasn't living in Icicle Inn or they wouldn't have had to 'retire' there because they already would have been there when he met her.


	44. 40-Growth

Growth

The group was a little late setting out from Cosmo Canyon, but they still made good time and were able to camp at the river. Nanaki and Deneh had joined them for the trip north as they had said, but as they neared Nibelheim the following day, the snows came in on them and the temperature dropped drastically. It was Roy and Genesis who came up with something they called 'flamewalking' to keep the air around them reasonably warm, though still not as warm as most of them were used to. With the heat being maintained alternately between the two men, however, the trek was much more bearable. When they reached the Inn in Nibelheim, they were all grateful—especially when they found out Tseng had arranged winter supplies to be transported there for them, to be returned in Rocket Town when they got there.

The ones who had Enemy Skill Materia had to search the area for a monster called a Jersey which had once lived in the Manor when it wasn't occupied, finding it in the woods just outside the rear fence of the plot the Manor had once stood on. The Jersey looked a great deal like old-fashioned weigh scales and gave an ability which registered as '?' on the Materia. Once they had gotten it, they returned to the Inn to sleep for the night, though Eden took some time to head over to Rayne's place to let her know he was okay and apologize for not keeping in touch. She was overjoyed to see him, but also scolded him for his complete lack of communication in any form with her. After securing a promise that he would write or phone her at least once a month, they had a very nice visit before he returned to the Inn.

Before going back to his room to sleep, he sat down in the main room of the Inn to call his brother again. During the day, he'd sent Al several text messages to let him know that and when he'd be calling and asking him to let him know if another time would be better. He'd gotten no response, so tried calling Al, as it was around the time in Midgar when he'd said he would. Again, there was no answer. After the third attempt to call his brother, he sat back and stared at his PHS as he asked, "What the Hell?"

"Is something wrong, Eden?" Rufus asked from behind him. Eden looked up to see the older blond in just his white pants and a casual, black shirt on, even as Rufus moved over to sit across the table from him—even his feet were uncharacteristically bare. It was good to see the older blond so relaxed.

"Since we left Midgar, Al hasn't been answering his phone or replying to my text messages," Eden replied, frowning down at the device in his hand again. There was confusion and pain in his gaze, not anger, despite the frown.

"He...hasn't answered?" Rufus blinked in surprise.

Eden sighed. "I don't get it. He's never not answered me, especially if something was wrong, but now—it's like he's trying to cut me off from him completely. Like he...doesn't want me in his life anymore..."

"You'll keep trying, I hope?" the older blond asked.

For a moment, the blond Turk was quiet, but then he nodded and said, "I'll keep trying until we get back to Midgar for a stay-over and I can ask him personally what gives."

Rufus gave a faint smile, then said, "So, now that you've decided that, are you ready to sleep, or would you rather join me for a snack?"

Despite the situation and Eden's worry over his brother, he had to laugh at that.

SH

First thing in the morning, they checked the weather forecast for the day. It was overcast but not with clouds dense enough to cause more than possible light flurries, so agreed to head right into the mountains. Eden led them the path by the Mako Spring, which had only developed one Guard Plus Materia since he and Cloud had raided it—which he gave to Aeris—so they quickly headed on to the Reactor. It had been one of the ones Kunzel and Luxiere hadn't gotten to while looking for Enemy Skill Materia, so they went inside to see if there were any Materia of value to find there.

Last time, Eden had only gone into the science lab, not the heart of the Reactor, so it was likely they would find some valuable shards there. Sure enough, there were a number of Materia around the Reactor core, including multiples of the basic elements and healing Materia, a Manipulate, a Strength Plus, a Float, an All, and an Added Effect.

When Genesis opened the core to see if any very rare Materia had developed there, he could see a blue glow from inside. Reaching in, he found a Materia forming in his hand before he'd even touched the rather large, blue Materia and pulled back in surprise as he stared at the red orb he now held.

"What did you find, Genesis?" Freyra asked curiously. She had just been observing the others as she wasn't particularly interested in collecting what was there.

"Eden, do you have a record of a Bahamut ZERO?" Genesis asked, turning to hold up the Summon Materia.

With a frown, the blond Turk shook his head and said, "Not from Shinra's databank. Libby, did Bugenhagen tell you about any other Materia?"

"There were a few he talked about, multiple Bahamuts like Neo and Fury, but not ZERO," Libby agreed. "There were Materia called 'Huge Materia' which could create new Materia in the right circumstances. Three were ones which created 'Master Materia' of the type matching each one's color—yellow, green, and red—and the last one, the blue one, gave a special reward for taking two powerful Summons to it. The details weren't clear about which ones or how to create the Master ones since no one has ever done it before, or if they did, they didn't record how. What Summons do you have, Genesis?"

"Ifrit, Phoenix, Alexander, Bahamut, and Neo Bahamut," Genesis blinked.

"And you got Bahamut ZERO?" Roy asked with a small frown.

"Yes," the red haired man agreed.

"It's probably the Bahamuts," Eden and Roy chorused, then looked at one another in surprise as everyone else laughed.

"That makes sense," Genesis agreed in amusement. "Did you want it, Eden?"

"No. I still can't stand Bahamut after the incident in Cosmo Canyon way back when," Eden replied, making a face. "Go ahead and keep it."

"What incident?" Kamil asked in confusion as Roy gave the blond a sharp look. Most of the others looked confused.

It was Nanaki who explained the situation and the unintentional result, and Genesis who cleared up the difference between memory suppression and amnesia.

Roy's gaze moved to Eden, who shrugged and said, "I had just found out what death felt like, and with the people I knew who died...did you think I'd take it well?"

"I suppose that's true. You never took that situation well or you wouldn't have become practically obsessed with putting things to rights and recovering what both of you had lost," the older man admitted.

At that moment, Cait Sith piped up and said, "Ye may want to get moving, otherwise a storm will come in."

Everyone stared silently for a moment, then Genesis chuckled and said, "Thanks, Reeve, and Cait Sith, of course! Well, everyone, you heard the man. Let's head out if we've got all the Materia now! Oh, by the way, Roy—catch." The red haired man drew a different Summon Materia and tossed it to the black haired one.

"Are you sure?" Roy blinked as he looked mildly surprised.

"I wouldn't have given it to you if I wasn't," Genesis replied with a small shrug. "I _did_ say I'd eventually pass Bahamut on to you, after all."

After a pause, Roy nodded and fit the Summon to one of his slots, then said, "Thanks. Unless anyone else has yet to reach a Materia, we'd better go."

All the Materia had been gathered, so they left the Reactor and continued down the mountain, beating the heavy snows of the storm by about an hour despite being attacked by more than one Dragon. The first battle, which had been against one Dragon, Genesis didn't involve himself in, but the second battle apparently pissed him off enough to just obliterate both Dragons in one blow, leaving the others staring in shocked awe. Even Roy was impressed with the skills the red haired man had just shown, and quickly absorbed his senior officer in a detailed discussion of his combat skills.

While they had reached the plains leading to Rocket Town, they still had to go around a section of the mountain range, so it was agreed they would camp below the snow line at the foot of the mountains overnight. As it had turned out, the two large cats with them were both skilled in combat and traveled very well. The cold had little to no effect on them, though extreme heat had an unpleasant drying effect on their noses which was irritating but not debilitating. With fur coats and tails which burned magically rather than physically, they had been built to adapt to most climates.

In the morning, they set out around the steep-sided arm of the mountain range, camped again that night, then kept crossing the plains in the direction of Rocket Town.

SH

Al had been feeling strange since he got to school that morning, but he couldn't place what it was or why he felt it. The best he could do was describe it as a strange tiredness, which he shouldn't have had because he'd slept well the night before and was still mostly working on theory with Evan, who was now a student at the Academy, too. The boy had a few classes with Yufi and Shelke (more with Shelke than Yufi), and often at lunch or after classes, Al and Evan met so the fifteen-year-old could teach the ten-year-old alchemy. He enjoyed the lessons and being a teacher, and it certainly never felt 'taxing' to him—which caused him even more confusion as to his tiredness. Even taking into account his having to chase the two new kittens he and Anthony had gotten and his depression over losing Ed to Rufus, he shouldn't have been in the state he was in. He was basically going through his day like a zombie...

Until shortly after lunch, when he felt an intense sensation like something literally dragging his energy out of him, causing him to sway in his seat before he collapsed in a dead faint.

When he woke, he had to blink up at the ceiling above him several times before a familiar voice commented, "You're actually _lucky_ you're registered to the Turks, you know that?" Turning his head, he saw the Xin—Wutain man known as Tseng, his brother's boss, sitting beside him, gaze angry and lips pressed into a fine line.

"...Why?" Al asked in complete confusion. "And why are you here?"

"I'm waiting for Felicia to get here so she can take you into town to shop and back to your home. As for why—we control the information which passes through Shinra, and you managed to grow three orange trees in the cafeteria garbage bin. I only recognize it because I've seen someone do that before, but the rumor mill is impossible to silence, and I'm _not_ the only one who will suspect what this means. You were _told_ to keep seeds on hand specifically to waylay a result like this, so would you care to tell me why you didn't, and why you lied about having done so?" the man replied, still looking angry.

"...Uh...What...?" the blond blinked at him stupidly, really having no idea how his passing out somehow had to do with trees growing in the cafeteria.

Tseng released a frustrated puff of air as he said, "You were supposed to keep seeds in your home so that your Cetra powers would work on them and leave you energetically 'weakened' while at school so something here—like seeds which had sprouted in the garbage—wouldn't be able to pull mass quantities of your energy. Because you didn't, you had plenty of energy for them to pull on in order to grow, and pull they did—leading you to pass out within moments of the trees growing into a twisted heap in the corner of the room. So, why didn't you get the requested seeds?"

For a moment, Al just stared at him before saying, "I didn't believe it."

"You didn't believe it?" the Wutain echoed in a dangerous tone. "Do you think we're in the habit of playing games, especially with something so serious?"

"This sort of thing just _doesn't happen_ where we're from. Ever. Maybe Eden's gotten used to things that don't make sense happening as a matter of course, but _I haven't_ ," the blond returned with a dark look. "I really didn't believe it would happen because the only way we could grow anything back home was if we _worked_ at it, regardless of the method. I didn't 'ignore' it just because I felt like it, but everyone kept _pushing_ it and I got tired of arguing so I said I had."

"Fine," the man replied, still looking unhappy as he took out his PHS. After doing something with it, he turned it around to show Al, saying, "This is what you grew. I took it myself just before coming here to wait for you to wake up. Since all those we thought might be Healers are accounted for and well, you are the _only_ one who could have done this. And like I said, I won't be the only one who will notice the timing of the two events."

For a moment, Al could only stare at the three twisted orange trees showing in the image, but then he looked up at Tseng to ask, "Why are you so worried that someone else would notice it?"

"Because the one who would is Hojo," the Wutain replied, putting his phone away.

Al drew in a sharp breath as he recalled all the things Eden had mentioned about the man called Hojo, as well as other comments about him which had been made by others, like Sephiroth. "...Would he really be so interested that I grew plants?"

"He kept a woman and her newborn baby in the Labs for over seven years for exactly that reason, though he only knew for sure the mother could do it. Until now, those two were thought to be the only ones who were even Cetra, but that didn't stop him from looking for others. The only thing protecting Eden and Genesis—and Genesis' sisters—is the fact that their genetics don't show the active key-codes of the Healers, which Hojo has assumed are the base genetics of a Cetra. If he gets wind of this—and he _will_ , it's only a matter of time—it will be _exceptionally difficult_ to protect you from him. And make no mistake, he _will_ try to get his hands on you, and the only real question is how urgently he wants you, which will determine how hard he'll try to push to get you."

"...Oh. I'm sorry..."

After a long silence, Tseng sighed and said, "What's done is done. All we can do now is react to it as it plays out. The only promise I can make is that we won't willingly leave you to him if we can help it, but I can't promise we'll even be able to _find_ you once he makes an effort to get his hands on you."

"If he—I assume you mean Hojo— _does_ make a serious effort to get him, we'll move him to our safe zone, whether he likes it or not," a new voice said from the door to the room, and Al looked up to see a brown haired woman wearing mostly green.

"Felicia," Tseng greeted her cordially as she shut the door behind her and moved over to stand near the bed. He then looked at Al and asked, "Do you think you're ready to get up?"

Slowly, the fifteen-year-old pushed himself to a sitting position, then yawned and said, "I'm still tired, but it's not as bad as it was earlier. I should be okay. Well, as long as I don't have to fight anyone or run a marathon or anything."

"I'm not surprised. What you did was a great deal more extensive than what Winry did when she activated," Felicia commented, but he noticed her eyes flashing angrily. "If you think you're ready to get up, we're going to shop for some seeds you can keep at home. Believe me, they'll have grown to full size in just a few days. I expected this with Kain because apparently no one even managed to tell him to keep seeds around to be safe, and it was pure luck that he activated while in the Turks' office, but _you_ had the warning. We don't appreciate being ignored when we're trying to keep you safe, and you just made our jobs _a lot_ harder."

"Okay, I get it!" Al glared at her. "Besides the fact that I don't even know who you _are_ , I already went through all this with Tseng. I even told him why I didn't bother, and it _wasn't_ because I 'just ignored it'. Ed might be used to strange things happening, but I'm not, and I really didn't believe this could happen without my say-so—where I'm from, that's the way things are, _no one_ can just grow plants without _making_ them grow on purpose. I've already apologized, but like he said—it's done and we can't do anything else about it. It doesn't matter how many times I apologize."

"Typically, that's true here, too," she replied blandly. "Those of you with Cetra Healer blood are the exception to the rule, and you already knew, both about the Healers and the fact that you have Cetra blood. It's true we can't do anything else now, but you can't tell me you really didn't believe it would happen unless it was deliberate and willful denial of facts just because you didn't want to face them. Now, as Tseng was saying, we can only hope we can get you out of here before Hojo gets his hands on you. This _cannot_ happen again, no matter how much you may want to deny something. When you're given a warning, you _need_ to take it at least seriously enough to humor us from now on, regardless of your own thoughts on the matter."

At first, Al stared at her in something like mixed horror and amazement, then turned to look at Tseng, who crossed his arms and said, "She has a valid point. I thought you were the more methodical and cautious of the brothers?"

With an exasperated noise, the blond said, "Fine, it won't happen again with anything else I'm given a warning about. Now who is this woman who is apparently supposed to take me to get seeds?"

"Felicia, meet Alphonse Elric, and Alphonse, meet Felicia Pereld, the Chief of Gaia's Refuge," Tseng replied, nodding to the two, then rising and going to the door. Before opening it, he added, "You've been excused for the afternoon, but there should be a paper in your bag with a list of the homework you'll need to have done for the next class you attend. If Hojo approaches you at _any_ time, make up any excuse you can to not go with him and call one of the Turks, the General or Commanders, or Felicia immediately as soon as you're out of his company. We'll work from there." He then walked out of the room.

Al made a sour face and said softly, "I'm really starting to hate him."

"You hate a man who is trying to keep you safe against the odds?" Felicia asked sharply with a glare. "How ungrateful can you _be_? He's going out of his way to try to help you adapt and stay safe when he has absolutely no requirement or reason to do so."

"He's the reason my whole life has been ruined, that my brother's not even the same person anymore, that—" Al began with a glare.

"Tseng has very little to do with the changes to your brother, as most of those are due to Rude, Genesis, and Veld, and _you_ were the one who ruined _your own_ life by refusing to accept your losses and move on, and who is _still_ ruining your own life by refusing to accept the reality of this world you now call home," Felicia cut him off harshly. " _Don't_ blame one of the world's few surprisingly good men for your own mistakes."

The boy's eyes widened as he gaped at her for a few long minutes. He hadn't expected her to reply the way she did, but he couldn't deny that it was true. Just like Mustang had tried to tell him, he was having a lot of trouble accepting what he viewed as the 'loss' of the brother he'd always known, and he was looking for someone to blame. Someone other than himself and his inability to move on without Edward. But Edward no longer existed, he'd been replaced with Eden, who was undeniably different, regardless of similarities. Even when he'd been trying to find his brother to take him home, he'd been aware the agreement had been for Ed to 'give up his life' in order to return Al's to him. And then, he'd lost even Eden to Rufus.

The worst part was that his inability to let go of his brother had, quite literally, led to many others having their lives ruined. Even if he used Eden's new logic about 'placing blame', all he could blame Truth for was who he chose to pass through the Gate—but none of them would have passed through it at all if he hadn't tried so hard to reach his brother, to refuse to accept his 'death' in Amestris.

" _Old rice stalks become fertilizer, and new rice is planted and grows strong. Alphonse, all you did was make the old rice into fertilizer. I could choose to be the rice seed that never grows, like you're doing right now, but I don't want that, I want to be the new rice that grows strong."_

Mei's words the day they'd sparred in that garden on the twenty-first floor suddenly came back to him starkly, with the harsh realizations of not just how many other people's lives he'd ruined, but several other things. He'd been behaving childishly, wanting nothing to change, even though he logically knew things would—that things already had. Everyone else had been moving forward and making the best of the situation, but he had been trying to get back something which would eventually have happened on Amestris anyway—it would have just taken longer. For the first time, he acknowledged he couldn't keep trying to be the child he'd been back home.

Tears filled his eyes as he realized 'back home' was never going to be home again, and he had to stop thinking of things as though he was 'back home'. With that realization also came the other that Felicia was right on all points, and he should have at least humored them, regardless of whether he wanted to believe it or not. By extension, what he'd just done to himself by attracting Hojo's attention fully hit home and he pulled his knees up so he could cry onto them, arms wrapped around his knees and head.

A hand on his back startled him, but not enough to stop crying, and he realized something else, too. For the first time since he'd had his own body back, he really realized his own mortality. In the suit of armor, he couldn't feel touch, but he was also very hard to hurt, very strong, and highly mobile. While he was still skilled at combat and with alchemy and Materia use, the body the suit of armor had provided him with would have made it pretty much impossible to be taken and tortured or experimented on, but now, he'd _feel_ anything the mad scientist wanted to do to him.

Finally, after almost half an hour of crying, Al sat back from his knees a bit to wipe his face as he murmured, "I thought you were mad at me?"

"I'm disappointed in your behavior, and yes, maybe a little mad, too," Felicia agreed from beside him, hand still on his back. "But people make mistakes, many of them willfully, and walking away from you wouldn't have done anything to help you move forward. You're young. You picked a bad mistake to make, and you'll have to suffer the consequences of that eventually, but for now, we need to do what we can to mitigate the damage. You'll have to help with that, too, and hopefully, with our support, get your head on straight enough that you don't make this mistake again."

"...I sort of think Tseng doesn't want to deal with me anymore..." he murmured, remembering how abruptly the man had left.

"Tseng takes the Turks very literally as his family, and by extension, their family is his family," Felicia said. "He takes you as part of his family, and no matter how angry he is with you, he won't desert or discard you. Your collapse came at a bad time in the office, taking him away from something he defined to me as an 'important investigation', which tells me he was _more_ worried about you than about his work. That's not the sign of someone who doesn't care or doesn't want to deal with someone."

Al was silent for a few long moments, then sighed and nodded. "I guess that's why he left so abruptly, too..."

"Of course. You were safely in my care, so he could get back to work. If I hadn't come, he wouldn't have left you on your own, even if that meant putting off his own work to take you shopping himself. Speaking of, now that you've gotten that off your chest, we should head out."

"...Yeah. I'll have to clean up a bit before we go, though."

"Of course. I'll be in the hall outside." Felicia got up and headed for the door.

"Thanks, Felicia," Al said before she left. To his surprise, she looked back at him with a small smile and nod before stepping outside.

Maybe everyone had been right and there was a world he really could move forward into, even if things weren't just like they had been?


	45. 41-Caves

Caves

Because the last day of travel was much easier than getting through the mountains, they felt up to the challenge of getting the skill Chocobuckle from the wild Chocobos in the area as they walked, so used the Chocobo Lure to attract them. The Suicide Skill from the Mus turned out to be a good way to startle Chocobos into using Chocobuckle before they ran away, but only one person could get it at a time because it only hit the one who attacked it, assuming the Chocobo didn't just run away as soon as it got hit. The result meant they needed to run into several and each person in need of it had to take turns hitting the Chocobos as they turned up. Freyra was the only one who had the Skill already, so was the one who taught the others how best to get it.

They reached Rocket Town a few hours before dark and went to the Inn to eat before looking around the town—if it could be called that. There was a small Shinra outpost there, which was where they returned their winter gear to, then checked out what was there. It was a cross between a mechanic's or engineer's wet dream and a small town built up on the fly to support the creation of some sort of device which had maybe been about half built so far. Mainly, it would have been classed as 'quaint' if it hadn't been for the massive airfields just outside the town.

To one side of the town was the airfields and several hangars, including one very large landing pad for the Highwind. Eden found out for the first time the huge airship was actually a brand new one built with some helicopter-like functions, such as take-off and landing ability. When Ed had been on board to travel from Wutai to Midgar, that had been its second trip after its maiden voyage to Junon. One of the buildings by the hangars was a kind of barracks for Shinra Infantry, while another was more like an apartment building for the mechanics and engineers working there.

Because the town was something of an afterthought once the area had been turned into an airstrip, there really wasn't much there. It had several homes, but there was only one store which sold some of everything, the Inn, and the most prominent and well-built home in the town which belonged to Cid Highwind. To Ed's surprise, the store had _three_ Materia he didn't have already, Barrier, Exit, and Throw, so he bought one of each. When the group met up again soon after, they headed to Cid's to let him know they were there and to work out their first flight the next day.

A brown haired woman answered the door when they knocked, and Rufus said, "We'd like to see Captain Highwind to discuss our flight plan for tomorrow. I am Rufus Shinra and these are my escorts."

"Oh, he's been expecting you," she said with a smile, opening the door wide. "Come in. Can I get you tea or something else to drink?"

"Tea is fine," the President's son answered, following her as Eden and Genesis flanked him. The others followed them, though Libby and Stray Hope opted to ride on Deneh's and Dark Nation's backs since Nanaki already had Cait Sith and Carbuncle on his.

She led them to the living room as she said, "Cid, Mr. Shinra has arrived. I'll be back shortly with tea." The woman then headed through a side door as Cid looked up from the papers on the coffee table, and Eden could tell right away that he was the same man he'd met in the room with Felicia on their trip from Wutai to Midgar.

Cid eyed the group for a long moment, his eyes meeting Eden's with recognition, and the Captain just had to comment, "Ya sure do get around, dontcha, blondie?"

"I do, and don't call me that," Eden replied flatly.

With a smirk-like grin, the man kept examining the group, his eyes falling on Cissnei and Aeris with puzzled worry. "You marchin' around with girls who could get hurt on a battlefield for some reason in particular, or do I just call ya a rat bastard and leave it at that?"

"Why you—" Rufus began with a dark glare.

It was Freyra who saved them by saying sweetly, "Oh, if you mean Cissnei and Aeris, Cissnei is a Turk and has been one for over a year already, and Aeris is our strongest healer except for SOLDIER Second Mustang. We have others skilled in magic, but those two get the singularly greatest effect with healing. And we're not the sort who think women are weak and need to be hidden away to take care of the home. Imply that again and I'll personally castrate you with a helping of buckshot."

"Now, now, Freyra, I don't think he meant it that way," Aeris said kindly as Cid gaped at the woman. "I think he meant exactly what he said—we're both very young and he didn't want us to get hurt. He doesn't seem to think you don't belong here, after all."

"Yeah, Cid is just foul-mouthed worse than anyone I know," Eden threw in dryly. "And doesn't seem to think much before he talks."

"Shut yer yap, ya brat," Cid growled at him.

"Proof positive," Eden commented with a wide grin at the others.

"Could we all stop arguing and discuss our plans for the flight tomorrow?" Nanaki cut in, causing complete silence as Cid stared at him.

The pilot's gaze moved to Deneh, then back to Nanaki for a moment before he asked, "What're you two doin' away from Cosmo Canyon? And what're your names since you decided to talk in front o' me?"

"You knew?" Nanaki asked in puzzlement.

"Heard ya a time or two when everyone thought I was sleeping," Cid shrugged. "Names?"

"I'm Nanaki, and she's Deneh," the male of the pair answered.

"Gotcha. You're fine with them girls traveling with ya?"

"Why shouldn't we be?" Deneh asked dryly. "Even Aeris manages to hold her own, and she was the least combat-capable when the others set out. We joined them only at Gongaga, where we were helping with the rebuilding, and she seems to do just as well now as the rest."

"Hmm..." Cid murmured, then gave a bit of a dismissing motion with his hand. "Fine, whatever wind catches yer sails. Tomorrow," Cid began, then shut up as the brown haired woman who had let them in returned with tea for everyone. "Would ya stop that, woman?" he glared at her.

"Stop what? Being hospitable?" she asked in reply, her expression clearly annoyed. "I want to do it, so just let me. Besides, if it keeps you out of a bottle or the bottom of a mug, it's worth it." She then proceeded to pour cups for everyone, including the mountain lions, though she had the sense to just give Dark Nation a bowl of water.

" _Can I have some water, too?_ " Carbuncle asked, making Cid spray the tea he'd grudgingly taken a sip of all over the coffee table and the papers on it.

"What the _Hellfire_ is _that thing_?" Cid glared at the Summon.

"That's a Summoned being called Carbuncle—a defensive Summon," Eden supplied. "This one is one I summoned weeks ago, but it doesn't function like other Summons and can stay here indefinitely. It's having fun exploring the world with us so has no inclination to go anywhere else."

Cid stared at him for a long moment before giving his head a shake and looking at Rufus. "Shinra kid, have a seat so we can chat."

"If you _must_ call me something informal, call me Rufus," the President's son snapped, but sat down in a chair near Cid. "So, after speaking with Tseng, what have you worked out for our flight path?" He then tested the tea—and almost dropped the cup in surprise as he looked up at the woman. He told her reverently, "This is very good. Your name?"

"Shera Labradia (1)," she answered. "I'm one of the engineers working on the rocket the town was named for."

With a nod, Rufus told her, "If you're half the engineer you are a hostess, you must be skilled indeed. It's not a wonder you got a man to stop drinking."

Shera blushed, but lifted her shoulders in a shrug. "Tea and a little baking has always been a hobby of mine. I can't cook unless you like eating charcoal, though. It gives me something to do when I'm not working on the rocket plans."

"I see," the blond said with a small nod. "You should give serious thought to packaging and selling this tea—I can tell you right now most of Midgar and Junon will love it."

"Supplies permitting," Shera quipped with a small grin. "You need to discuss a flight plan?"

Rufus turned back to a smirking Cid, who said, "She always gets that reaction."

"And she has a point. The plan?" Rufus asked, sounding a bit amused.

"I'll tell ya right now, you can't go to all three places in one day. Not if yer wanting to explore 'em, too, for treasure or whatever you're doing. The cave north of the Corel Mountains and the cave east o' Cosmo're close enough ta maybe go to both the same day, but ye'll need another day for the Forest, just for the travel time alone. We ain't sure how long the Highwind'll run for on its power supply, so I don't want to push her too hard until we know the supply's working right. Problem is, it can't land in any of the places you want to go."

"We have Summons who can—and are willing—to take us back and forth from the airship to the ground," Genesis put in. "Not to travel any distance, but they've agreed to a short jaunt in exchange for some free time to explore. I think Carbuncle is rubbing off on them."

Cid snorted, then said, "That's your lookout, then, an' I'll leave ya to it. Long as they don't damage my beauty, that is. You'll wish you hadn't been born if they damage the Highwind."

"They won't," the Commander replied evenly.

"Good to know," the other man agreed. "Now, when ya return from the Forest, your next trip is Wutai. I ain't got a retrieval time for you for that yet, but we've got a bit of an order for your island hopping afterwards—for the first part of it, at least. We've got two options. If you start at Cactus Island, you'd go to the temple island, Mideel, Banora, the cave northeast of Banora, Goblin Island, and Round Island. If ya go to Round Island first, you'd go the other way, to Goblin Island, the cave, Banora, Mideel, the temple island, and Cactus Island. All we need's your word on which way ya want to go."

"If I may?" Aeris asked. Rufus nodded to her, so she said, "Going to the Temple sooner means we can start trying to figure out how to get in sooner, and we already know that will be a challenge—the more we know sooner, the less time after we've visited the other places we'll have to wait while we work it out."

"That's true, if there's a place you can't just get into," Deneh agreed.

Rufus nodded and said, "That would be the most practical, I believe." His gaze moved back to Cid. "The Cactus Island option is more to our liking."

With a nod, the other man agreed, "Tseng thought that, too. I'll let him know so we can do the rest of that planning. Now, if that was everything, get outta my house and get back here after breakfast tomorrow morning so we can get our asses outta here right quick. Got it?"

Shera sighed, but Rufus rose from his seat with a glare as he said, "We'll see you in the morning, then."

Once the group had returned to the Inn, Rufus scowled, "That man is insufferable! Are you telling me we'll have to deal with him every time we travel on board an airship?"

"Pretty much," Genesis agreed. "He was worse when he was perpetually drunk, but he's the best pilot and navigator Shinra has ever seen."

The President's son sighed as he said, "I'm starting to understand how my father could have become such a callous ass if these are the sorts of people he has to deal with daily..."

"What did you think Heidegger was?" Kunzel asked quietly from where he'd stopped by the door, making the others look at him in mild surprise. It saddened Eden to see him with his helmet all the time again after their talk in Cosmo Canyon. "He doesn't have the same roughness or habit of swearing Cid does, but he has a vicious temper and is prone to beating Infantrymen when he's angry. He only doesn't touch the Turks and SOLDIER for random abuse because we _would_ kill him, and would most likely get away with it. He'd have been beating on Tseng for sure if he thought he could get away with it because he loathes Wutains with a passion. Word through the grapevine hints that he's not happy with the President's decision on just how to end the war—by basically letting Wutai remain untouched and without any real Shinra supervision—so he's been beating on the Infantrymen a lot more than he had been. Especially ones with Wutain backgrounds."

Rufus was silent for a long moment before saying quietly, "I see. Cid is a great deal of bluster, but not physically abusive to others—he just doesn't seem to have a filter between his brain and mouth. Heidegger is violent and endangers people's lives. Now I know why Tseng has never attended a private meeting with him, even if he'll discuss things on the phone with him."

Freyra and Kamil traded puzzled looks, Roy glared, Genesis nodded, and the others just watched in quiet concern. After a long silence, Rufus sighed and said, "Let's go to bed. Tomorrow will be a busy day."

They did (though Ed tried again to call Al and still got no answer), waking when the Innkeeper knocked on their doors to tell them breakfast was almost ready. It didn't take them long to prepare and head down to the main room to eat, after which they headed back to Cid's. He was wearing a spear in a sheath on his back as he finished his tea, then led them to the Highwind, where the crew was getting it ready for take-off. Everyone got on board and began exploring as Cid and the crew took their places on board and the Highwind took off. Their first trip east from Rocket Town took them to the far side of a river in a half-rocky, half-desert terrain the airship couldn't land on, a trip which took about two hours. Instead, it took up a hover position and lowered the ladder as far as they could, at which point, Genesis told Eden to summon Alexander.

Since the blond had never summoned it before, he had no idea what would appear, but it shocked him to see a fairly large, armored-machine-like 'knight' with steam jets and a veritable stair-like design. It stood at about twenty feet tall, though it looked like it wasn't standing on its legs, it was only kneeling on them (which allowed its fists to sit on the ground without it hunching over much), so it was probably a fair bit taller. Being metal, having people walk on it wasn't likely to bother it, but the wind currents caused by the Highwind hovering in one place stood a chance of knocking them off Alexander while they made their way down its arms. To solve that problem, the Holy Summon sprouted large, white wings (2) and held them in a way which created a protective tunnel the humans (and their other companions) could travel to the ground through.

With that, they were able to reach the ground and make their way the short distance to the cave in the nearby mountain. The cave was riddled with Mako crystal flakes, they all saw as soon as they stepped inside, the most prominent color being yellow-ish. One side of the cave seemed to be a dry Mako Spring, but there was something yellow shining off to the left of them in the middle of the floor. When Rufus moved over to it and picked it up, they could all tell it was a Materia he said was called Mime (3). It looked like there were a few places in the cave where there was a half-formed Materia as well, but they weren't developed enough to take.

Since there was nothing else there—not even monsters to fight inside—they returned to Alexander and returned to the ship, though Deneh, Nanaki, and Dark Nation all had quite the jump to get back onto the airship, and while the two mountain lions managed to 'climb' the ladder after a fashion, they needed to retrieve a hoist for Dark Nation. They could all get down easily enough because they could survive a fall from a greater height than a human, but the other way was much more difficult. Eden told Alexander to have fun exploring for a bit, then joined the others as Kunzel headed for the bridge to let Cid know they could head south at that point.

The Highwind turned southwest to fly to the portion of the Nibel Range which ran south all the way to the southern end of the Cosmo Canyon region. They reached the area where the cave east of Cosmo Canyon was in about two and a half hours (they had recently eaten lunch on board the airship), but it took them another half-hour or so of flying around before they found the mouth of the cave they needed. It had a platform outside it which would barely be large enough for Genesis to summon his Alexander onto so they could reach the cave, but any of their other options for fair-sized Summons were even larger and wouldn't have fit on it at all. As such, Genesis summoned Alexander in a way which allowed the being's fists to rest nearest the cave entrance and to either side of it.

Getting down proceeded in much the same way that time as it had the previous time, except that their last step to the ground could only go inward because the edge of the platform was to the outside edges of Alexander's fisted hands. They proceeded into the cave as they reached the ground because they knew the next people would need space to step down as well, gathering at the edge of the pool in the central chamber of the cave. Up to the point where they reached the pool, the cave had looked fairly normal, but that chamber was clearly highly _un_ usual.

It was filled with huge, blue Mako Crystals sprouting from the ground, from in the water, growing on the stone pillars riddling the rather large cavern, but only the area they were in was accessible. The pool could have been taken as water, except that it emitted its own glow, somewhat dark and somewhat malignant—no 'water' source would have felt malignant unless it was either tainted or not water. In the middle of the pool was a massive Crystal which gave off a golden-like glow—and which contained a brown haired woman wearing a white, tank-like top and a white skirt.

"That's Lucrecia Crescent!" Genesis gaped.

"She wanted to die, but Jenova wouldn't let her..." Aeris murmured in a dazed voice, making the others stare at her and the glassy expression she wore. The only one who wasn't staring at her was Roy, who held a hand to his head like it hurt. "When she realized that, she crystallized herself here, and doesn't know how to get out again..."

As Aeris started to take a step towards the pool, Roy's free hand shot out to grab her shoulder and pull her back. " _Don't_ walk in that Mako. It's stagnant," he told her, other hand still to his head.

"She shouldn't walk in _any_ Mako, stagnant or not, because she'd get Mako poisoning," Cissnei pointed out dryly. "But is the Doctor even still alive in there?"

"Apparently," Roy snorted. "Aeris seems to be drawn in by her worries, her needs, her fears."

"So what do we do?" Deneh asked worriedly, moving to stand between Aeris and the pool so Aeris wouldn't be able to walk forward so easily. With Carbuncle on Deneh's back (it was one of the Summon's rare moments of willingly being parted from Nanaki), Aeris stopped trying to move forward entirely because the pair created an obstacle she could register as such in her current state.

"What is stagnant Mako, exactly?" Kunzel asked suddenly.

Eden moved forward to kneel at the edge of the pool as he said, "This would be the location where Chaos forms as the pool fills. If the level of the cave entrance is 'filled', that's only maybe an inch or two above the current Mako level. We really don't have long to fix what needs to be fixed, and Chaos is already out in the world, ready to start the slaughter if things reach the point of no return."

"...What's Chaos?" Kunzel asked in confusion, even as Cissnei and Freyra traded puzzled looks.

"It's a being whose purpose is to help gather the Lifestream when the end of the world is about to happen, and because we're all made of Lifestream energy given a physical form, that means reducing us back to pyreflies," the Turk explained.

"How does this pool fill?" the Second asked, lips curving into a frown.

"That would be due to suffering, death, mass destruction, torture, and the like," Rufus said. "When the people, plants, animals, and land suffer, the negative energy of that suffering transfers to the Lifestream, and the Lifestream sheds it here. When too much suffering has happened, apparently the Planet can no longer sustain itself and we see the end of the world, quite literally. Gaia's Refuge is working to help us correct some of these problems so this pool will be able to stop filling."

Kunzel looked sharply at the President's son, then nodded and faced Eden again. "Since you seem to be the one in the know, Eden, what is the actual function of this pool, besides being a meter of some sort, and—is there a way to undo things? Because in all honesty, this is basically a self-destruct sequence with no off-switch, even if we fix things. How can we get the level to go back down?"

"You catch on quick," Eden commented in wry amusement, pushing himself back to his feet as he peered across to the base of the crystal in the middle of the pool. "If we take the Lifestream—or Minerva—as the sentience of a human, and take the Planet as her 'human body', she has everything from antibodies to functioning organs. The race known as the Ancients, or the Cetra, were originally factors she created to act as some of the 'red blood cells' carrying healing to places in need, for example. About three thousand years ago, a meteor which wasn't a meteor hit the Planet, causing the damage at the Northern Crater and bringing with it an entity equally as powerful and variable as Minerva. That was Jenova. It decimated the 'red blood cells' and began taking over the host body, Minerva.

"To counter Jenova, Minerva adapted by doing things like giving us access to Materia and absorbing the monsters Jenova created into her own genetic make-up so those beings couldn't keep doing damage after they died. She's absorbed a huge number of factors into her genetics and adapted, mostly in beneficial ways, but she was never able to get rid of Jenova, and she was never able to heal the damage Jenova caused in the Northern Crater. Even her adaptable genetic base didn't negate the threat of Jenova, and recently, humans have been causing equally as much damage as Jenova ever did."

Eden was silent for a moment before turning back to face the rest of the group, who were watching him in surprised fascination, even Aeris. "What happens to a human body which is constantly in pain, endlessly suffering—then gets injured?"

"It begins to break down and deteriorate because it can't heal any injuries if all its energy is taken up by trying to fix whatever is causing the pain," Kamil answered. "It needs to rest properly, have proper care, to stop the pain and be able to fix the injuries."

"Jenova has been an endless source of pain since her arrival," Eden said quietly, and the others' eyes widened.

 **Notes:**

(1) To the best of my knowledge, Shera was never given a family name, and honestly, I have no idea where this one came from. I had typed it in before I realized I had, so I guess she just really wanted that family name. O.O

(2) Did I mention before that this general description is the 'metal knight-fortress' of FFVII's Alexander combined with the presentation of the same being in FFIX, the one which was Alexandria Castle? If not, that's what this being is, though it only chooses to call out its wings or not, and generally will call them if its attack will effectively be a 'critical Judgment', rather than a normal Judgment. Or, if it wants to use the wings for something else, like in this situation.

(3) In the FFVII main game, Mime would have been found in the Materia Mine in Wutai, but I figure some of the Materia Mines/Caves would have been accessible to enterprising explorers (all of them but Round Island, in fact), so they'd have had some sort of turnover rate. When Cloud and Co. find them in 07/08, they'd still be the ones from the main game because someone would have found whatever had previously been there—in this case, what had been there before the Materia in the main game was Mime, and a different Materia is currently in the Wutain Mine.

The glow in the Mine is actually determined by the type of Materia most prominently sitting in it, not by its location—it's glowing yellow right now because the Materia in it is a Command type. With Mime removed, the glow will fade out to be replaced with the glow matching the type of the next Materia to fully develop there. At least, this is the conclusion I drew after realizing every single one of the Mines glows with the same color as the Materia you get there. Of course, Round Island may just be stuck with a red glow after however long it had a Summon just sitting there, on an island no one can normally reach without a Gold Chocobo, and—surprise—those are extremely rare, so it's pretty safe to say no one has even bothered with it before.

...Sorry, I'm babbling...


	46. 42-Stagnation

Stagnation

The stunned surprise of the others began to fade as Eden went on speaking after a couple moments, "Minerva never had a chance to heal, and with most of her 'red blood cells'—the Cetra—dead, there was far less transference of healing to the places she needed it. In the normal course of events, I'm sure this pool would naturally be purged of some or all of its gathered—refuse—every so often, assuming Minerva was healthy and able to do so, but she isn't healthy and hasn't been for three thousand years. Because of that, she hasn't been able to purge this because all of her attention has been focused on trying to heal from Jenova's damage, then the damage humans have been doing to her. _That's_ why this pool hasn't been purging of its own accord and why it's so full now."

"Add to that the fact that 'Mother Earth' can't just 'stop' her own functions and ignore the people living on her surface and you have little to no chance she could heal on her own," Nanaki said quietly. "Then, without the Cetra, we're doomed."

"Should we stop using Materia and illusion stones if those are fragments of her power? Doesn't it hurt her if we use them, use her energy?" Freyra asked with a puzzled frown.

" _Nope_!" Carbuncle answered cheerfully. " _Materia are good! You_ need _to use them to help her_!"

"What?" Roy asked in confusion.

"Wait, that has to do with Zack Mastering them like crazy, right?" Kunzel asked. When Eden nodded, he went on, "The Materia are severed from the Lifestream and it's _our_ energy they use, other than the energy put into them at their creation. If they were harmful to the Planet, she wouldn't naturally produce them, but like with the Reactors, it's the current quantity being produced which is problematic. Using ones which are already made doesn't do any harm, and the new babies they produce are excess energy which didn't come from the Lifestream to start with, so what they need to do is—be built up so they can be returned to the Lifestream?"

"You got it," Eden agreed. "And we're working on that. In the meantime, that doesn't actually purge this, but Genesis created an array which we believe could do so if it was modified. After all, it purged Nero the Sable, who was infused with stagnant Mako, right back into clean, pure, Lifestream energy. At this point, however, we don't want to do that, because we need the Planet to be able to react properly if the route of Omega becomes necessary—this pool is the gauge for that. If we cleanse it even partially, we'll be dooming ourselves right now."

"We'll be dooming ourselves if we don't," Rufus scowled. "If Omega forms, Chaos will slaughter everything to revert it to Lifestream energy."

"Normally," Eden agreed.

"Minerva has another path for us and will take Chaos—and as many good people as she can with ones who are maybe questionable—with her in stasis in a 'ship'," Aeris said quietly. "It's not like an airship or anything, and we probably won't know it happened until we get to another inhabitable planet, but it would allow her to preserve the ones who were actually trying to save her. She knows how hard Jenova is to challenge, and she knows even Jenova's cells aren't a guarantee of destruction, so she now developed a plan to save what she's already created rather than discarding it. That's our reward for sincerely trying to help—for _us_ to have another chance. She needs to be able to form Omega at the right time for that to happen." She then faced Eden to ask, "Is there a way to reach the crystal?"

"Maybe," the blond answered. "I don't want to disturb the contours of the pool, so it would be tricky to make a path over it..."

"How deep is the pool?" Cissnei asked suddenly.

"Deep," Aeris answered, head tipped to the side. "The central part around that crystal pillar should be at least as deep as the cavern is tall, if not deeper." The others all looked up at the ceiling of the cavern high above them. "And Minerva doesn't want this woman here any longer, but the woman—did you call her Lucrecia?—still isn't sure she wants to leave."

"Why doesn't she want to?" Genesis asked in confusion.

"And for that matter, why does this girl know anything about what Minerva or Doctor Crescent want?" Rufus asked with a sudden glare. "I knew Hojo wanted her for his experiments, but she's always just seemed like an ordinary girl to me, healing ability aside."

Kunzel sighed and commented, "If all businessmen are this dense when the clues are right in front of them, it's not a wonder Turks scare them."

"Excuse me?" Rufus asked sharply as the others traded amused looks.

"Hold on, why do _you_ know?" Freyra asked the SOLDIER Second.

"All the clues are right there in front of me, and because I had some Turk training before I decided on SOLDIER instead, I'm used to adding two and three to get five, since Turks almost never get anything as simple as two and two equaling four. I mean, just this one discussion was sort of a giveaway by itself, even though no one explicitly said it." His head tipped in Roy's direction as he added, "And the mass of plants in Genesis and Roy's apartment alongside this discussion sort of filled in a few more details, and I'm starting to see a trend here. I guess that's fine, though, since the Planet desperately needs more 'red blood cells'."

After a long silence and a few wry grins from the present Turks, Rufus blinked and asked, "Are you saying Aeris and Roy are Cetra?"

"Only half—or less," Aeris admitted. "But I've also had my abilities since I was little and built a deep bond with the Lifestream—as deep as I could make it in Midgar, anyway." Her gaze moved back to Eden. "Please do what you can to make a path over there."

The blond met Rufus' gaze for a long moment, a challenge in his eyes until the older blond relented and gave a small nod. Since Eden knew he was accepting that Aeris would not be turned over to Hojo, he spun back to the pool and knelt at the edge of it again. "You lot might want to brace yourselves so you don't lose your balance." That was all the warning he gave them before clapping his hands together and putting them down on the ground as he imprinted the array to manipulate stone in his energy and imagined the simple, stone, bridge-arch he wanted to make from stone under and behind him.

Most of the others watched in amazement—around yelping and trying to stay on their feet when the ground under them moved—as light flashed and green-hued electrical-like bands of energy swirled over the ground and around the building stone bridge which started building over to the crystal in the middle of the pool. It was just a smooth, fairly narrow arch with no rails, but widened some around the far end so there was about five feet of space there, rather than about three. Because there was stone at the base of the crystal, it was able to anchor itself securely there to create a stable path, which Aeris crossed as soon as the energy currents stopped flowing.

"Fancy," Genesis commented with a chuckle as Eden rose.

"Simple, actually," the blond replied.

"Yes, 'fancy' was the bridge over the river between Corel and Gongaga," Roy threw in, sounding amused.

"What?" Rufus and Cissnei asked in confusion.

"Eden _made_ that bridge," Nanaki chuckled. "You didn't notice it wasn't made with seams? Technological creations have seams, they have no choice. That bridge had none, barely even showing proper seams between the stone and metal parts. It had literally been made as a single unit, and Eden's skill is the only one capable of doing a thing like that."

"...I see..." Rufus sighed, giving his head a shake.

Meanwhile, Aeris rested her hands on the crystal as she murmured to the woman inside, completely focused on what she was doing. They couldn't hear her clearly, but they caught snippets of things, like her saying, "That's not true," or "You never tried," or "What if there was more to it?" Even though they couldn't hear responses, they were really getting the impression a discussion of some sort was happening, especially since she sounded like she was talking with someone on her PHS.

The others watched her for a minute before Genesis said, "Now, back to my original question, why wouldn't Sephiroth's birth mother want to get out of her prison, especially now that Jenova has been destroyed?"

"She—seems to think her son is fated to destroy the world," Roy answered with a sigh. "And she hates herself for what she did to someone named Vincent?"

"Sephiroth's father," Genesis nodded. "He's a great guy, actually, and a surprisingly good father. Sephiroth is just fine and has no interest in destroying the world, and his father is part of the reason why. If she _hadn't_ done what she did to him, he wouldn't be here now to take care of Sephiroth or raise the other boy the two of them have adopted into their family. The only thing the two boys are still missing—is a woman's touch, a mother's touch."

Aeris gasped as some sort of wave came off the crystal and tears ran down the woman's face. Everyone blinked in surprise, but Aeris dropped to her knees with her hands apparently 'stuck' in place on the crystal as she stared blankly into space. An array flashed around the crystal, then vanished, making the others all gasp in surprise.

"Oh, my Goddess..." Genesis muttered.

"Oh, Hell!" Eden suddenly cursed, then ran across the bridge and put his hands on the Mako crystal for a moment. He then asked Aeris, "You still with me?" When he got no response, he called, "Bastard, Genesis, get over here and be ready to catch the Doctor and move Aeris forcibly!"

The two ran across the bridge, and as they reached the two teenagers, Eden clapped his hands and put them on the crystal, activating the same array he'd used to remove the Mako from Weiss and Shelke. In this case, however, not only was there a great deal more Mako, but he had to modify it for use on the crystal, not on liquid in a human body. The array which had flashed around the crystal had been the one with the modifications he needed, and he had no doubt Minerva was the reason for it, the one who had shown it to them. The transmutation would usually have only lasted a few moments, but it lasted for over a minute—

When it finished, several red orbs sat on the stone dish the crystal had previously occupied and Eden's eyes slid shut as he fell over backwards, collapsing in a dead faint. He only vaguely felt someone catch him—then a moment of searing pain as his hand landed in liquid...

SH

Genesis and Roy had joined Eden as soon as he called for them, Roy reaching out to pull Aeris back from the crystal as it began dissolving, and himself to reach up to catch Lucrecia as she fell limply from the crystal. Rather, the empty air which had been the crystal. His head turned and he saw—

Eden falling over backwards, his eyes sliding shut.

"No!" he gasped, about to rise—

Kamil reached the boy just in time to keep him from falling right into the stagnant Mako—but the blond's hand kept falling, right into the stagnant Mako pool! It only stayed in for a moment because Kunzel joined Kamil and snatched the boy's hand out of the pool within a couple of seconds, but it already looked—deformed. It was growing, for lack of a better word, with some sort of green and red, scale-like formation which had torn off his glove from just below the wrist and down. It seemed stagnant Mako on the surface of one's skin was a quick way to create the monsters known as Makonoids. All he could do was stare in something like horror at the blond's limb—everyone was in the same state, and the horror grew as they saw the growth creeping upward under the wristband of his glove.

A moment later, Aeris was standing over Kamil, Kunzel, and Eden as she popped a Summon Materia into the bracer she wore on her wrist, then covered it with her hand as she called, "Unicorn, we need your help! Healing Horn!"

A Summon which was completely new appeared and everyone could only stare at it in shock as it sent out a wave of blue light and green-white sparkling, swirling lights. Unicorn had a mostly white, equine body with a gold horn and hooves and a mane and tail streaked in rainbow colors. Across its body fur were faint, golden swirls which were barely visible. (1) The light flashed through the cavern, touching and healing all of them, regardless of how much they did or didn't need it right then, giving them some revitalization if they didn't need any healing.

And Genesis realized as it vanished that Aeris still had a particular aura which meant she was still accessing a Limit Break. When she had called for Unicorn, she had mixed her main Limit Break, Healing Wind, with Unicorn's Healing Horn, causing both to function in an abnormal way. When he looked back at Eden's hand, it had faint, brown marks like burn scars on it, but otherwise looked normal. Movement in his arms made him look down to see Lucrecia struggling to sit up, her brown eyes open and lucid, which should have been impossible after the state she had just come out of.

"...What just happened?" Rufus asked in shock. "I mean, don't get me wrong—I'm happy that it looks like everyone will be fine—but in all my research, I've never heard of a Summon called 'Unicorn', and what did it _do_?"

"Part of it, the green-white, swirling lights, was Aeris' Limit Break," Genesis put in, and the others looked at him in surprise. "She reached it through extreme emotion—her fear for Eden—and accidentally merged Healing Wind into Unicorn's Healing Horn. I don't know what it is in particular, but Eden made them using the array Minerva showed us and the crystallized Mako which has spent who knows how many years exposed to Doctor Crescent." Since Lucrecia had sat up by herself by then, he reached past her to the other red orbs sitting in the hollow where her crystal had been and picked one up to assess it. "They're probably all Unicorns, and it seems Unicorn heals all forms of status effects and illnesses—but it has a wait time between summonings to recover."

"So...what do we do with Doctor Crescent?" Freyra asked curiously.

The others turned to look at her to see her sitting with her hands over her ears and her eyes closed, but a moment later, her eyes opened wide in surprise as she exclaimed, "I can't hear Jenova's voice anymore! There's no pressure, no weight, anymore!"

"Jenova has been destroyed," Genesis informed her gravely.

Her eyes moved up to him, showing some Mako influence in flecks of blue in her brown eyes. "You—you're the one who said he knew Sephiroth and Vincent!" she gasped.

"You were aware—as in, able to hear us—while you were crystallized?" he blinked in surprise. When she inclined her head, the red haired man agreed, "I know them. Sephiroth's like a brother to me, and Eden—" He paused to motion in the blond Turk's direction. "—found the actual data on his possible parentage. I found out about Vincent Valentine and proposed his possible position as Sephiroth's father. They later had a blood test done to verify the fact. I have no idea where or how Eden found Vincent, though, or how he managed to convince him to meet with his son."

"...Vincent is really his father?" the woman asked hopefully, and when Genesis nodded, she breathed a sigh of relief. "Does he hate me for what I did?"

"Which he, and for what, exactly?" the SOLDIER First asked dryly.

"Vincent for—changing him—and Sephiroth for—deserting him."

"If you have Jenova's cells in you, there's a good chance your own behavior would have started changing for the worse," Roy commented from her other side, making the woman look at him in mild surprise. "And from what little I've seen of Hojo, he'd have grabbed Sephiroth and locked him away from you, regardless, so nothing about his childhood would have changed. Preventing yourself from causing further harm may have been one of the best decisions you could have made—even just to keep your own sanity."

"As for Vincent, I think he's mostly come to terms with that now that he's not wallowing alone in self-pity, which was how Eden made it sound," Genesis added.

The woman thought about that for a minute before slowly nodding—and asking, "What did you say about another boy they had adopted?"

"Fourteen-year-old Anthony Valentine, as his new name is," the Commander said. "He had been an experimental subject who Eden managed to—cure—before he would have died, and just sort of...bonded with them. I'm not surprised, really, all of them having been experimental subjects. And Anthony has a pretty mild personality over-all, even though he's still trying to figure out what real emotions and caring are. He's a good kid who now has a chance at a good life. Is that okay with you, Doctor?"

She blinked at him for a moment—then blinked in surprise as Dark Nation, who had rather sneakily made his way to them—gently butted his head against her side. He was clearly asking for her attention, so she slowly, tentatively started petting him, and when everyone seemed more amused than anything, she treated him like she would have a common pet dog. His tentacle waved happily as he laid down at her side. They hadn't noticed if he'd stopped by Eden first, but he probably had since the black Blood Taste had a tendency to gravitate to the blond Turk if Rufus wasn't available (and sometimes even when he was).

"Rufus, has anyone ever told you your pet is an attention hog?" Cissnei asked in amusement as she also made her way across the bridge to take Aeris' hand.

"No one has explicitly said it, but I am well aware he enjoys attention, especially from Eden, Aeris, Roy, and now Doctor Crescent," Rufus replied dryly.

"Okay," she agreed, pulling a startled Aeris back across the bridge. "Let's get out of here so the others with the Doctor and Eden have more space. Also, the crew of the Highwind is probably worried about us by now."

"We should go back to the airship as well," Nanaki said, looking at Deneh, who nodded. The two padded out as Lucrecia stared after them. Libby, on Nanaki's back, and Carbuncle, on Deneh's back, opted to stay where they were and be carted out, quickly followed by Stray Hope.

"What are those?" she asked in amazement.

"Some of the residents of Cosmo Canyon," Genesis told her in amusement, causing her to stare at him instead. "Honest. They've lived there for generations, but those two are apparently the last ones left, and joined us mostly because they're friends of Eden's and got curious about the world at large. Their names are Nanaki—the male—and Deneh—the female. Of course, by their people's standards, they're only around thirteen, but they've been alive for over forty years now."

"I see..." the woman blinked.

"Well, unless you want me to help cart the Materia, I'm heading back as well," Freyra cut in suddenly, giving a stretch before looking around at Genesis, Lucrecia, Kamil, Kunzel, and Eden.

"Take a few of them, would you?" Kunzel asked her. "And in case Cissnei hasn't done it, ask them to get a stretcher-harness ready, because I don't think Eden will wake up anytime soon, and I doubt Doctor Crescent will be fit for climbing _stairs_ , let alone ladders, in the next few days, and Alexander is a lot less forgiving than stairs even then."

"I'll do that, then," she agreed as she crossed the bridge, grabbed a few of the Summon Materia, shoved them in her pockets, and almost sprinted out of the cave.

"Alexander?" the woman asked in surprise, then remembered the other part of the comment. "Airships can't land here," Lucrecia said as Genesis rose and offered her a hand up.

"See for yourself," he smirked as she took his hand and let him help her to her feet.

They walked outside slowly, Roy behind them as Rufus walked out ahead. Kamil and Kunzel took up the rear with Eden. As soon as they stepped out onto the platform, Lucrecia stopped to stare in amazement at the Summon she saw sitting below a huge, hovering airship. They could seen Deneh and Nanaki on the bridge with Cissnei and Aeris, and Freyra was making her way up the ladder dangling from the airship. Rufus began climbing up one of Alexander's arms, making the woman's jaw drop from the shock of seeing a Summon willingly letting itself be climbed on like that.

"You're going to burn in Hellfire for using a Summon like this..." the Doctor muttered incredulously.

Genesis chuckled and said, "We asked their permission first, and they agreed by these terms. We can't use them to travel a huge distance, but this is really just them sitting there patiently for a bit in exchange for some time to explore afterwards. Once we're all back on board the Highwind, Alexander gets to go look around at his leisure until I fall asleep tonight."

"...Oh," the woman stared as Fryera disappeared inside the airship. Not long after, she returned with some of the crew and the hoists and lifts they needed for Dark Nation, Eden, and Lucrecia.

 **Notes:**

(1) Unicorn is a Summon I created for this story since many other Final Fantasy's have it. This version is sort of a cross between the FFVI (originally III on SNES) and FF Tactics Advance one with my own mods to it.


	47. 43-Moving Forward

Moving Forward

Eden woke slowly, trying to figure out where he was. A weight at his side which didn't have the shape of a human made him think first of Den, Winry's dog in Resembool, but something told him that couldn't be right. Finally, his eyes opened and he turned his head—and saw either Deneh or Nanaki there. By his time in Cosmo Canyon, it was probably Deneh. As soon as he moved, the large cat's eyes opened and turned to him, showing Deneh's green-gold as he'd guessed.

"How's your hand?" she asked quietly, clearly worried.

"My...hand?" he asked in confusion.

"It—fell in the pool before Kunzel could snatch it out," she replied, sitting up. "Aeris and the Summon you created healed the worst of the damage, but we don't know if all it left were some scars or if there's still other damage."

His eyes widened as he sat and held both hands in front of him. It was obvious his left hand was covered in brownish scars, and when he flexed them, comparing their movement and tension and so on, he found the damaged one a little stiff. In the distance, he heard thunder, and felt a small pull from his injured shoulder and from his leg around the ports. When the pull, which always caused a slight pain, also activated in his hand, he knew it was going to be like any other scars and cause him pain in extreme weather. Normally it wasn't something which was bad or which caused him problems, since he was just used to it happening, but now one of his _hands_ was going to cause him pain, too. With auto-mail, the ports hurt, but the limb functioned like normal and caused him no pain with its use.

Giving a small sigh, he said, "It reacts poorly to storms and things, but I don't know if the stiffness in it is also because of that. It isn't bad, just enough to be a little—not quite the same as it had been."

"So, do you feel up to getting dressed and having lunch downstairs with us?" she asked, tipping her head to the side.

For a moment, he eyed the hand, realizing her words meant it was probably at least the next day. After a moment, he sighed and nodded. "What's one more scar?" he asked with a small, wry grin. "I always sort of figured I'd get more, I just didn't think one would be from a toxic substance. Where are we now?"

"Back in Rocket Town. It's the next day," Deneh told him, jumping off the bed and making her way quickly to the door. "Genesis and Roy got you a replacement pair of gloves when they found out one of the townspeople is a tailor. Apparently, they're softer than your old ones to make it easier for the scars." She then nudged the door open, stepped out of the room, and shut the door behind her—a feat animals seemed to accomplish against all logic when they didn't have hands to grasp and pull things.

After several minutes of just sitting there, he sighed and reached for his PHS, using it to send a short message to Rude: _Have you got a few minutes?_

While he waited for the reply, he got up and dressed properly—they had left his shirt and pants on, so he had to change those out—and found he had a response before he was going to head to the bathroom to finish his morning ablutions. Taking the phone with him to the bathroom, he read Rude's reply: _I'm just watching a target right now. What do you need?_

 _...I just feel like...Well, when we went to our most recent stop, it was the stagnant Mako cave, and there was an accident..._

 _What kind of accident? Are you okay?!_

Eden had to chuckle at Rude using an exclamation point, but then he sobered again because he realized the man was truly worried to use one in a text message. As such, he composed his reply carefully: _I'm okay. Well, my left hand is scarred and doesn't like storms much, but it's functional and otherwise unharmed. It might be a bit stiffer than my right hand, but I don't think it's enough to affect my abilities. So yeah, all things accounted for, I'm great._

The reply took a few minutes, so he finished up what he needed to do in the bathroom.

Finally, Rude's reply came: _So how did your hand end up in the stagnant Mako in the first place?_

Raising a brow at how long it had taken the man to reply with such a short line, he answered: _I passed out and no one was near enough to catch me fully before—that happened._

 _...Passed out? Your issue?_

 _No, more like overload while trying to free someone from a Mako crystal._

Again, it took the man a long time to reply, so the blond returned to the room with the beds and sat on one. Finally, Rude's reply came: _I hope you're taking care of yourself after something like that. You have a tendency to push and push and push some more until someone makes you stop. I'd be worried about the 'someone' in the Mako crystal if I didn't know you as well as I do, and how likely you are to get into trouble without someone watching over you._

Eden stared in surprise at the words for a moment before replying: _Deneh is watching over me—she and Nanaki apparently travel quite well, as strange as that thought may be. Just like in Cosmo Canyon, if you weren't watching over me, she was._

 _Good. At least you'll take it easy for a bit with her there. Does Tseng know what happened to you yet?_

 _I don't know. With three other Turks in the group, probably. Don't Turks all have to file mission-related injuries for themselves and their coworkers?_

 _They do. Three Turks? Weren't there only meant to be two besides you?_

 _Yeah. Tseng had to send a Turk with an unexpected addition to our party before we left Midgar. So, we have Cissnei as well, but she's there to keep 'the addition' safe, not to keep Rufus safe._

 _Ah. 'Big little sister' Cissnei. If Deneh can't keep you down, she will. You'll be fine in that case. All the same, take care of yourself, and remember—you're only sixteen and need a break to recover sometimes._

The last part—about him being sixteen—made him pause and check the date. It was January twenty-first, which made him stare in surprise and realize—he'd missed his own birthday and not even thought about it!

Writing back to Rude, he informed him: _Actually, I'm seventeen now._

 _You are? What day?_

 _The twelfth._

There was a pause, then Rude replied: _That doesn't change my response. Take it easy for a bit._

 _I will. Thanks._

 _Feeling better?_

 _...Yeah, I am._ And he did, so his reply to Rude's question was an honest one, not him just trying to be strong or pretend everything was fine when it wasn't.

 _Good. I have to let you go, though, or I may miss movement I'm supposed to be watching for._

 _Okay. Later, then. And thanks again._

He was pretty sure he wouldn't get a response at that point, since the discussion was over, anyway, so put his PHS away and got up to head down to the main room. It wasn't hard to find his traveling companions, especially with the woman now sitting with them.

Doctor Lucrecia Crescent.

She was now wearing a plain, burgundy skirt and a blue, long-sleeved shirt with some lace around the neck, her hair falling freely down her back as it dried—she'd probably showered not long ago. What was most shocking about her was that she looked like she was only about the same age as Vant. Had that been from the Mako crystal stasis, or did she have much stronger ties to Jenova than even most SOLDIERs had?

The others looked up as he moved over to the table (well, the cluster of six smaller tables pushed together to form a larger one) to join them, holding his Kaiser Knuckles in his hands rather than wearing them—he needed gloves before he put them back on. As he approached the free chair he could see at the table, Mustang threw a pair of white gloves down on the table in front of it. Eden sat and picked the gloves up—and immediately felt how soft the cotton was, so soft it was like butter. Pulling them on, he gave both Genesis and Roy a nod, which was returned by both.

"Feeling better, Pipsqueak?" the man asked.

"Just fine, Bastard, scars aside. Even those aren't bad. Good thing, or I'd have trouble doing my job," Eden replied, gaze amused.

"I noticed that Unicorn seemed to be able to counteract even the Makonoid effects of stagnant Mako," Lucrecia put in quietly, making the others look at her. "If it's injected into the body, it doesn't cause physical mutation, but it's almost guaranteed to kill you, while surface application is a fast way to deformity. Normally, that would also be deadly or maiming, but in the past, there was no counter to it. What made you create a Summon like Unicorn?"

"I didn't deliberately make Unicorn a healer, if that's what you mean," Eden answered dryly. "I can make the Mako transform into Materia, but what it becomes is highly dependent on who the Mako was exposed to before I transmuted it. Carbuncle became defensive because the one it had been exposed to needed protection, for example. You needed some form of healing or counted as a healer of a sort to it, so it adapted to your nature and Unicorn was the result. I just gave it the channels to take form in a tangible way. In that case, Minerva—the Lifestream—may have been directing it to form a strong healer which could undo changes to a body or status rather than heal physical injury."

The woman blinked in surprise, then sighed and nodded. "There may be some truth to that, but that would also mean Minerva thinks much more highly of me than I think of myself."

"I told you, she never had rejected you—that was Jenova's doing," Aeris told the older woman.

"Then why did she want me out of there so badly?" Lucrecia asked sadly.

"So you could _heal_ ," the girl answered simply.

"I have no place in this world..." the Doctor sighed softly.

"So _make_ one," Eden told her, making her look up in surprise. "I seem to end up having to say this a lot. Did you see my—cybernetic leg?" The woman nodded, so he went on, "I'm missing a part of my body, and I _still_ got up and kept moving forward. You've got a good, strong pair of legs, your _own_ legs, so get up and _use_ them. Vincent did, so now it's _your_ turn. It's only fair for you to learn to live _with_ your actions instead of running away from them."

She looked taken aback, but said nothing further, which prompted Rufus to ask, "Is your hand still fully functional?"

"It should be, minor stiffness aside. It doesn't like storms, but that's no different from the scars I already had," Eden shrugged.

"That's true," Freyra agreed. "Severe scarring tends to dislike extreme weather and abrupt weather changes. Makes me glad my injuries were all minor, but my uncle got an injury when I was five that was so bad he literally started limping whenever a storm came up. If you're mostly okay with the pending storm, you'll be fine."

The Innkeeper arrived and began setting out meals right then, so they all turned to the food for several minutes. When they finished eating, Eden looked at the Turks and commented, "I assume all of you sent reports to Tseng already?"

"Of course," Cissnei agreed. "You're supposed to get a check-up with the Shinra Doctor here and send your own report to him with the results. And once we go to our last destination here, we have to go back to Midgar for a few days."

His brow rose and he asked, "You told him about Doctor Crescent?"

"The Commander ordered us not to say anything in our reports," Kunzel volunteered. "He said he was leaving it to the Turks, so I assume they would have."

"And?" the blond asked, looking between the three Turks curiously.

"It's not safe for her to be there openly as herself, so if you want her to join us to return to Midgar, she needs a disguise," Freyra answered.

"If she wants to go back, that is," Cissnei added. "But first we give her a new look, then send a photo to him so he can create an identity for her to introduce herself to Shinra with. Some of that also depends on what kind of job she'll want. So far, she hasn't been doing much beyond saying she shouldn't be here and should find another place to hide away."

Eden looked at Lucrecia, who blushed faintly and looked down, then said, "I'd give her a red-auburn color or black for her hair and green eyes, maybe green-hazel. I don't see why she can't just go back into the same general field of study, especially with those two Deepground doctors around who she could work under, rather than Hojo. As long as she stays away from Jenova and Chaos and Omega Theory, no one could really peg her as someone they've written off as dead. Especially since she looks like she's only around twenty-five, not fifty. Give her a different hairstyle and a birth date around nineteen seventy and she'll be set." He paused for a moment before asking her, "So, red-auburn or black?"

"...I know Sephiroth had silver and Vincent black. What about the new boy they took in?" she asked quietly.

"Black as well," Cissnei said with a shrug.

After a moment, the woman sighed and said, "Black, then. And green-hazel eyes, since it seems you all want me to go back so badly."

Eden nodded, then cast Change on her to make the adjustments. "Very nice," Roy smiled at her, making her blink and pull her now-black hair in front of her.

"How?" she asked in surprise, looking up at Eden with wide eyes.

"Most Materia have 'ghost arrays' for additional spells people can trigger if they go looking for them," he answered. "The Mirage Materia added a spell called Change, and when I needed it, the point was for a long-term disguise, so it maintains the changes until I remove them. There doesn't seem to be a limit function in the spell make-up, either, so once it's set, it stays until it's removed manually or replaced."

" _Maybe it works like mine?_ " Carbuncle asked as it hopped into his lap and sat there, staring at him.

"It does seem similar," he began to say to the Summon, then sighed as Dark Nation sat against his leg and wound his tentacle around the blond's leg. When the Blood Taste gazed at his plate and licked his lips, Eden glared at the monster and told him, "I don't feed you, so quit trying to beg me for food." As the others laughed, his gaze went back to Carbuncle so he could say, "Change is so far the only spell I've found which acts like alchemy in the sense of creating a permanent change unless it's specifically removed or replaced with something else. You're _still_ different from that because you're fully able to choose to stay around or not, which the Change spell can't."

" _Ohhhhh,_ " Carbuncle murmured, then snatched a carrot slice off his plate and began nibbling on it.

"I didn't know spirits needed to eat," he commented to the fox-rabbit.

It looked up at him again and said, " _The longer I stay, the more I want to eat things, and then I feel better and have more energy again._ "

"In that case, maybe you shouldn't be staying for so long?"

" _It's fun here, though! And food tastes good!_ "

Eden sighed as most of the others laughed and Aeris said, "It said that to me, too."

"You realize if things keep going the way they are, Carbuncle may actually turn into a physical being, right?" Kunzel asked quietly, and the others all turned to stare at him, even Carbuncle.

"You mean, it has to have a physical body in order to eat and process the food into energy?" Eden asked, and Kunzel nodded. He looked down at Carbuncle and said, "In that case, if you don't start going back sometimes to reconnect to your spirit form properly, you'll end up just not being able to go back—you'll be just like the rest of us, who can really be hurt or killed, not just reduced to energy form."

One of Carbuncle's front paws began rubbing Ed's scarred hand over the glove as it thought, then turned to look at him again. " _If I go back...you'll call me again and let me stay until I have to go back to stop changing again?_ "

"This really means so much to you?" he asked it. When the creature nodded vigorously, he said, "Then I will. If you go back now, I'll call you again in the morning, and we'll try to keep those times to just a night—assuming that will be long enough to revert you to your actual form. Okay?"

" _Okay! Thank you!_ " Carbuncle said, then closed its eyes for a moment before it broke apart into light and vanished.

"Well _that_ was a shocking degree of maturity, Runt," Roy commented dryly to Eden.

"Whatever, Flame Bastard," Eden just sighed, pushing his plate aside so he could fold his arms on the table and rest his head on them. "I think I need to go back to sleep for awhile, though..." he muttered.

"Then go sleep," Aeris said as rain began falling heavily, hitting the roof and windows with enough force to leave them no doubt of the downpour. "It's not like we can fly in this storm, so we won't be going anywhere until it ends."

"Okay..." he agreed, getting up and going back to the room upstairs so he could sleep again.

SH

As it turned out, the rain kept up until sometime in the early morning hours, dissipating not long after sunrise. Since that was the case, Eden summoned Carbuncle back, tried calling Al (again with no answer), then went to see the doctor assigned to Rocket Town by Shinra. When he was done there and had sent his report to Tseng, the group headed to Cid's to arrange their flight for that day. It was decided it would be best for Lucrecia to stay behind because she had no combat skill at all, so Rufus opted to leave Dark Nation and Stray Hope with her, Dark Nation for her protection and Stray Hope just in case there was something the white cat robot could do for her.

As such, those three stayed with Shera while the others went with Cid to visit the Ancient Forest, which was far to the south between Gongaga and Cosmo Canyon, situated on a mesa raised far above even most of the hills and mountains in the area. It was capped by jungle so dense that it was nearly impossible to find a place to set a Summon down, let alone for something to land—even a helicopter wouldn't be able to.

The flight took about four hours, and after several minutes, they were able to find a place on the southwestern side of it for Alexander to settle down. In the dense undergrowth, Kamil's daggers were very useful as the man cleared a path for them and the others fought off the monsters they startled into attacking them by traveling through the area. Only three general types appeared, one which was similar to an ostrich with bare legs and neck in dark purple and dark feathers, one like a four-footed, fat-faced demon with a dark purple hide, and one which was like a living leaf stalk. Libby told them the three were an Epiolnis, a Diablo, and a Rilfsak, respectively.

As far as working out which way they needed to go—that ended up being Freyra's expertise, and she led them towards the center of the Forest, using tricks some of the plants and monsters around Mideel reacted favorably to. The most impressive result she got was for a very large, carnivorous flower to spit out a Slash-All Materia when she dropped a beehive into it. It was a good thing Deneh and Nanaki could make much longer jumps than humans, though, because they couldn't really swing on the viney creatures the others had to use to cross some gaps.

In the center of the Forest was something like a spring, but it actually seemed to be water, not Mako. Near it, Eden tripped over a root and face-planted right in front of a red Materia which turned out to be a multi-elemental known as Typhon. The others had mixed reactions to his fall, partially amusement (both for the fall itself and finding the Materia under a plant where none of them would have seen it otherwise) and partially worry that he hadn't fully recovered yet. It didn't take them long to go through the rest of the areas they could reach, but mainly just found more enemies to fight with little else. As such, they made their way back to where they had left Alexander, the walk much easier that time with the growth already cleared, and returned to the Highwind.

Given how long they had been wandering around in there—about six hours—they weren't surprised to be getting back to Rocket Town around ten that night, and they were all eager to turn in after the long day. Because they were waiting on word from Tseng about Lucrecia's new identity, the group just decided to hang around in Rocket Town the next day, taking it easy. There wasn't much to do there unless they were engineers or mechanics, so most of them actually spent the day sleeping, playing card games, reading, or other quiet activities. It was also the first day Eden, Genesis, and Roy—a grudging addition—had to work on the arrays for Zirconaide, and the first time he'd called on Libby's data storage since their test run of the system to get their copies of the arrays they needed.

The only real note of interest was how Kunzel received word that he was slated to get his final infusion and promotion to First Class the morning following their return to Midgar.

Finally, a little after supper, Cait Sith told them Tseng wanted him to pass on her new identity, which ended up being thirty-two-year-old, self-taught scientist and doctor Lunaria Valentine nee Joran. He also shamelessly admitted she was meant to introduce herself as Anthony's mother and as the Turk Vant's wife, thought to have died some years ago in a terrible accident, which had in turn prompted the men to end up isolating themselves. She was confused about who 'Vant' was, so Genesis whispered his identity to her—and she promptly turned scarlet and hid in her room for the remainder of the evening and night.


	48. 44-Back to Midgar

**A/N:** Lucrecia Crescent will now be known as Lunaria Valentine in most situations.

Back to Midgar

Around two thirty the next afternoon, the Highwind arrived in Midgar, landing on the Shinra building landing pad in the space the helicopters had been moved from. Deneh and Nanaki had opted to only join Cid for the return trip to Midgar when Rufus was ready to leave for the trip to Wutai, so were currently still in Rocket Town with Shera. As the group disembarked, they found a few people waiting for them: Zack, Angeal, Sephiroth, Tseng, Reno, Vant, and Anthony. It was obvious Zack was there for Aeris (currently blond and resembling Eden's sister again) when he ran to her to snatch her up into a hug, pulling her right over the rail of the gangplank as he did. She giggled happily and hugged him back before they released one another and began whispering together.

Once they were all off the Highwind, Reno loped over to Rufus and said, "I'm takin' over guard duty fer the day, yo." Rufus scowled, but nodded and stepped away from the others—which also meant the people waiting for them could see the black haired woman with them. No one was paying much attention to that as Genesis broke away from them once he knew he wouldn't be on guard duty that night, and he greeted Angeal and Sephiroth with hugs, then ruffled Anthony's hair. Zack and Aeris had made their way to Tseng, who greeted the young woman happily enough, though not as enthusiastically as he likely wanted to by his expression.

Suddenly, Vant murmured, "Lu—" then stopped himself and ran to the now black haired woman to hug her tightly as the two whispered to one another for a few moments.

Anthony had tentatively followed Vant when he'd run forward, and when the two adults parted, he froze as the woman's eyes fell on him. She then gave him a small smile and held her arms out in an invitation for a hug. Because Tseng had told him more about the situation than Vant had apparently been told, he realized he needed to answer, so he moved forward to hug the woman, who was effectively becoming his mother to support their cover—Vant's, his, and hers. At first, it almost felt alien, but then he began to like being held by a sort-of mother figure.

It didn't prevent his curiosity, and he asked barely above a whisper, "I thought you were dead?"

"By all rights, I should have been," she whispered back. After another moment, she released him, but left one arm settled part-way around his shoulders as she looked at Vant to ask, "Have we got a place where we can speak privately?"

"For today," Vant agreed. "We should go. We have a lot to talk about." She nodded and the three walked away. When they were passing Sephiroth, the Turk paused to say, "You'll still be joining us for supper, though. I'll forward you the address later."

"If I will not be imposing, I will join you," the General replied, and got a nod and smile in reply.

As the three left, Sephiroth turned to a smirking Genesis with a questioning look, and the red haired man answered, "If you _must_ know, Eden's at the center of it again, but our lady healer—Zack's young lady—was mainly the reason all is well."

"...The Turks knew," the silver haired man suddenly realized.

"Of course," Cissnei agreed as she walked by while stretching her arms out above her head. "And Flower Girl, give me a call when you need me again, would you?"

"I will, thank you, Cissnei," Aeris called after her. Carbuncle landed on Aeris' shoulder to wave to the retreating Turk, who gave a wave in reply just before the door closed behind her.

Tseng looked amused as he turned back to Aeris-in-disguise and asked, "How many does Cissnei make?"

"Um...Eight?" she asked, looking a little puzzled.

"Eight?" the Wutain questioned, only being actively aware of six of them.

"Mm. You, Eden, Ruluf, Freyra, Kariya, Kamil, Balto, and Cissnei."

"I see. When did you meet Kariya and Balto?"

"Wait, are those just Turks you know or something else?" Zack asked in confusion.

"Both," Aeris answered in amusement.

"I'm partly the reason she met Kariya, since he followed us into the Slums when I took Roy to meet her before his infusions," Genesis answered, explaining how Kariya fit in as Aeris nodded.

"And about Balto, I went to see Auntie Izumi now that everything has calmed down in the Wall Market area, and he was there," she explained to the Wutain, then turned to look at Zack. "Is it all right if I visit for a bit? I won't get many opportunities to meet Tseng now." The man in question looked faintly amused.

"Sure. I'll hang with Kunzel for awhile if you want. Call me when you're ready to head out," Zack answered, then waved the Second over to him. They quickly left as well, leaving Angeal and Sephiroth puzzled as Genesis sighed in relief.

"Well, as much as this is great, kiddies, I have family to visit," Genesis put in. "Oh, Tseng, is Kariya around?"

The Wutain paused thoughtfully for a minute before nodding and saying, "He should be off his stakeout shift in about an hour and a half, so don't call him until after then."

"Really? Okay, then. I'll head to the Academy to visit my sisters," Genesis agreed, heading inside as he called, "Want to join me, Angeal?"

"Sure," the black haired man agreed, then quickly followed the red haired one.

Reno looked at Rufus and said, "We'd better get goin', too, yo—yer old man's expectin' ya."

"Oh, for—!" Rufus scowled, then nodded and said, "Fine, let's go." The two of them left as well, followed by Dark Nation and Stray Hope, leaving Sephiroth standing there alone and looking confused.

"Sephiroth, could I ask a favor of you?" Tseng asked the man, who turned to him.

"That would depend on the favor, though most likely my response will be 'yes'. What do you need?" the silver haired man asked curiously.

"This young lady—have a look at this," Tseng said, fishing his PHS out to show him a picture in it. Sephiroth blinked, then looked questioningly at the Wutain. Tseng said, "She lives in the city. If you happen to see her around and it looks like she's in trouble—no matter who her assailants are—would you step in to protect her?"

After a long silence, the silver haired man looked over at Aeris to meet her currently green-gold eyes, and finally agreed, "I would be able to. The likelihood that I will ever be in such a position is low, but it is in the realm of possibility, so should it happen—yes."

"Thank you," Tseng told him, sounding honestly grateful as he gave Sephiroth a small smile. "By the way—you'll want to head to an address I'm going to send you momentarily. I doubt 'they' will mind if you join them now." He then used his PHS to quickly send an address to Sephiroth, who checked it, then sent the younger man a questioning look. "Well, go on," Tseng told him with a small smile.

With a sudden blink, the man realized what Tseng was getting at and turned to run from the landing platform, eagerness and excitement in every line and motion.

With that, only Kamil, Eden, Freyra, Roy, Aeris, Tseng, Carbuncle, and Libby were left, as Cait Sith had apparently wandered away at some point. The Wutain faced them and said, "I have everyone's reports. Eden, you were given an activity to do by the doctor to counteract the stiffness in your hand, as well as a moisturizing cream, yes?"

"Yeah, I'm all good," Eden answered, ignoring the startled stares from the others.

"Show me your hand," the head of the Turks replied.

With a sigh, the blond pulled his glove off his left hand, letting the older Turk see the brownish scars pretty much covering it. They weren't bad, not nearly as bad as they could have been, but it would have been easy to mistake them for him having burnt his hand rather than what had happened. The problem was that, like all scar tissue, they pulled tighter than normal skin, and with nothing but other scar tissue to pull on, it had started to create something of a tense shell over his hand. The moisturizer would soften the skin and allow it more elasticity, and if he did his exercises while it was soft, he would be able to alleviate the stiffness and only need to reapply the cream at times, such as with extreme temperature changes. At the moment, the hand still showed its surface stiffness, though.

Tseng gave a nod and looked up to meet Eden's eyes. "As long as you can function, that's the important thing. By the doctor's report, you won't be endangering your life or anyone else's, even if he didn't give you the medication and exercise, it will just help keep you from feeling the wound for a longer time as you age. Was there any way you could have prevented what happened?"

"I don't think so," Eden replied, shrugging. He then pulled his glove back on. "I'm not sure I'm the best one to ask after our Flower Girl collapsed while locked in place. There was only one way to unlock her. Maybe the others saw something I could have done. Or they could have done."

Looking at the others, he mainly got shakes of the head, and Kamil said, "There wasn't a lot of space there, and the platform was already full to capacity. We would have needed more space, though I guess I could have immediately followed the Commander and Roy when Eden yelled for them. I think that would have required a premonition of the fact that Eden was going to pass out, though. I don't think he had any idea that would happen, let alone the rest of us."

"The array wasn't any indication?" Tseng frowned.

"By itself, the use of any array doesn't knock people out," Roy cut in coldly. "Believe me, it doesn't. We couldn't have used that as an indicator. What caused the problem was apparently how long it tangibly took for the alchemic reaction to stop, and most alchemic reactions only last between two and six seconds. The longest I know about were consistently ten to eleven seconds. The one Eden did then took over a minute to stop, and he passed out because he had no ability to withdraw from the reaction once he'd started it until it stopped on its own. If that was Minerva, I can safely say I'm not sure I want to save her."

"It _wasn't_ Minerva, though," Aeris said, making the others look at her in surprise. "There are a couple places where Jenova is still a little anchored. Until those are taken care of and Jenova is disconnected from them, she still has a little power. The Doctor was one of her anchors, and if the Doctor left the crystal, she would lose that anchor—Minerva gave us the ability to free her while she had a desire to be free because that would definitely sever the bond she'd had with Jenova. It was Jenova Eden had to fight every step of the way, which was what extended the reaction for so long."

"How many more anchors does she have?" Tseng asked with a frown.

Aeris looked a little puzzled, then frowned a bit and gave her head a small shake as she said, "The SOLDIERs aren't, and even Sephiroth isn't anymore—I think that man who was here for Lu—naria is the reason Jenova was severed from him. That leaves the other scientists or experimental subjects infused with Jenova's cells. Did any of the other scientists do that? Were there subjects besides the SOLDIERs?"

"We would have to look into that," Tseng nodded. "In the meantime, we have a bit of time to visit—I have the excuse of investigating your value as a traveling companion to Rufus—once I give my people a run-down of the next few days." She nodded, so he looked at the others waiting there. "Second Mustang, you have the time off until the group sets out again unless Genesis calls on you for a mission. Riha is in the office right now and Mr. Fuery will be off his shift in about three hours, so you should visit them while you can. You'll get a notice when you need to prepare to head out again."

"Got it. Do you mind if I borrow Riha for awhile?" Roy asked, smirking a bit.

"If she's done the task I had assigned her," Tseng agreed. "She should be nearly done if she isn't already." When the SOLDIER gave a nod and left, he turned to the Turks and said, "Freyra, Kamil, you have the time off as well, unless you choose to help out with a mission. You'll also get a notice when the group is ready to go, so go visit the people you want to visit." They nodded and left, so he looked at Eden.

"I'll give you today off from cleaning up the storage rooms, and because we have no guarantee of keeping to a storage sorting schedule for now, you'll be working tomorrow," the Wutain informed the sour-looking blond. "Depending on how long it takes for the President to let Rufus leave on the next leg of your journey, you may or may not have many days of work. Because guard duty has mainly been assigned to Sephiroth while you're all back here, you'll be working on storage every day until you leave, but I've arranged for you to only work until supper so you also have some actual time off."

"You really won't let up on that, will you?" Eden asked in an oddly soft voice, something like defeat. "Even during the time of the trip? I mean, I know I still will have to do it all, but—everyone else gets to rest after three weeks straight of literally no rest, and I have to keep working, except for a few hours a day?"

Aeris was blinking in surprise as Tseng crossed his arms and said pointedly, "You were assigned the duty in the hopes that you wouldn't do what caused it to be given again. It isn't supposed to be pleasant, Eden, and I'm already being lenient in the original terms by giving you extra time off in the evenings."

"So then, what time does Eden have to work on things like Felicia's arrays?" Aeris asked suddenly, making Tseng look at her in mild surprise. "He can't do it while he's sleeping, and because our trip was so tight through the whole first two parts of it, he only had one day to work on it with Genesis. He's barely getting any time to work on all the things he's _supposed_ to be working on, and most of those really can't be put off right now. And then, if he uses the few hours you gave him to work on that, he won't get to visit with any of his friends or family, which was what I assume you _actually_ gave him the time to do. Is it really not possible to make him make up the time when the trip is over?"

He pursed his lips and gave his head a shake. "These were the terms—his days off would go to sorting, effectively meaning he has no days off until he's done. If Genesis gets a free day and wants to work on the arrays, he can let me know and I'll let Eden go for the day to work with Genesis. If someone else actively asks for time with him, I can also let him go for some visiting time, but he can't just have the time off or _I_ won't be holding up my end and he'll think he has enough power to modify the terms as he sees fit. I can't have that from my Turks—they need to be dependable when the situation requires it. And so you know, there was _always_ an allowance in place for people to ask for Eden while he was working on storage sorting."

"Won't Genesis have free time like everyone else?" Eden asked quietly.

"He only has today, like you," Tseng answered, meeting the blond's gold gaze. "With Sephiroth on guard duty, Genesis traveling, and most of the Firsts there because of luck, not the more traditional method, Angeal is the only stable elite mission specialist in the department. While Genesis is back, he's going to be picking up the missions Sephiroth would have been doing, starting tomorrow. I don't know how busy they are over there, but I have a decent idea, and he's going to be busy pretty much the whole time. On the up-side, once you leave for Wutai, not only will you have no storage sorting, but you'll have a great deal more free time than the previous two legs of the journey gave you."

With a sigh, the blond nodded and turned to the door leading inside, just feeling weighed down, tired. There was no real reason for it, but he largely just wanted to go sleep in his room for a very long time—and he'd already been doing a lot of sleeping in the last few days. In that sense, going to see Winry, Al, the other kids, and anyone else he wanted to go see, would be a good idea for him to do before he got too tired, since he knew they would worry about him if he didn't. As he went inside, Libby followed him, and he didn't see Aeris and Tseng watching him worriedly.

It didn't take long to get to Reeve's office, where he checked the listings to see where Winry's new office was, then headed for it. She had told him she had one, but he hadn't seen it yet, and with it being almost right across from Reeve's, it was easy for him to find.

As soon as he opened the door quietly, Winry called from across the room, "I'm working, so sit down and wait for me to finish, Eden!" An elderly man looked at the Turk in amusement from beside her as she positioned something which looked a lot like a type of gun above some metal in front of her and a grating sound filled the air, like metal grinding on metal very fast. She was in her work clothes with a green bandanna around her head and goggles on, too, so he shut the door and moved over to sit in one of the two chairs across the desk, which was on the far side of the office, Libby following him and crouching at his feet, leaning against his leg.

While she worked, occasionally pausing to murmur with the elderly man, Eden looked around the room, seeing one side covered in the tools, parts, and machines he was used to seeing along with some new ones. It was familiar. The other side of the room had the office desk (covered in paperwork and a computer she was obviously already using a lot), and tons of books on engineering and programming. The first two weren't familiar, but the last was. Finally, on almost every wall, spaced about three feet apart, were brackets supporting plant pots with many green, leafy, flowering vines growing from them and across a series of simple, black nets she'd attached to the ceiling. That was _not_ familiar at all.

Finally, Winry stopped and set down the 'gun' as she released a deep breath and asked, "So, how did I do this time, Mr. Valsted (1)?"

"Much better. It looks like you've worked out the program measurements this time. I've never seen such a quick study before, honestly," the elderly man replied, giving her a nod and a fond smile. "We'll try it again tomorrow morning, and if you do at least this well then, we can move on to the next lesson. Now, since it seems you have a visitor, how long would you like me to give you?"

Winry turned to look at Ed, lifting her goggles to examine him as she did, then said, "I don't know. How about if I just call you up when I'm done and just say something like, 'You can come back any time now'?"

"That should work," he nodded, then gave her a wave, nodded to the Turk, and walked out, closing the door behind him.

Pulling her goggles and bandanna off, Winry set them aside, then turned to look at Eden as she asked, "What happened while you were away?"

"Say what?" he asked, raising a brow.

She gave her head a shake and said, "I'm a Cetra Healer—just like Aeris. I hear Minerva all the time, just like Aeris. Actually, I'm pretty sure I hear her more clearly than Aeris, too, but that may be because my Mako exposure from the Reactors is a lot lower. Minerva had a fit of—irritation, I guess—then a panic attack, then began moping, all because of something directly tied to you somehow. She's done moping, but really—what happened? I asked Tseng, and he wouldn't tell me, said it's 'classified'."

The blond Turk's brows rose as he asked, "My injuries are 'classified'? Really? That's—not normal, unless he has a reason to want to make it look like I'm not injured."

After a moment, the blond fifteen-year-old moved over to sit in the chair beside his, gaze intent on his. "What injuries?" Eden paused for a moment before sighing and pulling his glove off again, letting her see the scars. She immediately sat forward to run her fingers over them gently, then looked up at him to ask, "So, what was it that caused this to happen? My first instinct is to say 'burns', but your boss wouldn't be so tight-lipped about that." As she said that, she reached down to give Libby's head a pat to let the little robot know she hadn't been forgotten.

Shrugging, the other blond said, "Apparently, stagnant Mako is a quick way to deformity. But then, I created another new Summon which was able to largely reverse the effect, but not without leaving behind marks—stagnant Mako is strong, and deadly. I'm lucky to still have this hand, let alone be able to mostly use it normally. It really was accidental, though, because Jenova didn't like what I was doing right then."

Her lips pursed, then the girl gave a small nod. "I guess that also explains why he didn't want it to be known—there would be too many questions."

Silence fell for a few minutes as both took some time to think, then he pulled his glove back on and asked, "So, what's with the vines?"

"My apartment looks like this, too, and I'm just glad Tifa and the others rather like it," Winry said with a small face. "What happened was that I put seeds in the pots because Aeris said I should since I'm a Cetra Healer like her, but I didn't think anything would happen. By the end of my first day of work, the vines in _every_ pot had grown three feet, give or take a few inches. The same thing happened at home overnight with the plants I keep there. I can't _not_ grow them in places I spend a lot of time. Mei, Al, and Mr. Fuery are the same, but I pity Mei because Yufi keeps giving her the seeds of plants which will make Wutain poisons. I think Tseng has taken the plants away five times already."

Eden blinked, then blinked again and asked, "Al is growing plants like this, too?"

"He only activated about five days ago so his are smaller, and he mainly chose ones for greenery, not flowers," Winry offered.

"Has he gotten a cat yet?" the Turk asked, just shaking his head at the news.

Winry's expression became wryly amused as she said, "He and Anthony each picked a cat, though they're mainly Al's. Well, he described it as 'they each picked a cat,' but I think Anthony just got taken in by the 'cute factor' of little kittens. On the up-side, the plants in their place mean the kittens have lots of toys—the vines—and a veritable jungle to play hide-and-seek in. Shelke adores the kittens, too, and tried to take one back to Shalua's with her. Needless to say, that didn't go over well with Shalua, Elena, Anthony, or Al."

"I see. I guess that means Al stopped denying his nature as a Healer," Eden sighed softly, a small smile on his face which was a mix of fond and pained.

"I think that boy he's tutoring is good for him," Winry said in amusement. "Evan, I think his name is?" When Eden gave a nod, she added, "But something about Al is still bothering you. Shouldn't you already know about his kittens and the plants and things like that? You said you were going to call him while you were away."

"I did call, every few days like I said I would," Eden sighed. "I called and even sent him text messages, and he never answered a single one."

"Not one?" the blond girl asked, wide-eyed in shock and something almost like horror. He shook his head, gaze pained and absent, and she reached over to rest her hand on his arm. "I have no idea why he would behave like that—he hasn't really been getting in touch with me, either. What's gotten into him?"

Eden just shook his head and said, "I'll find out when I make it to his place to talk with him."

"Okay," Winry agreed with a small smile. "Now, let me see how your leg is doing so I know if you need a replacement yet."

At the words, Eden groaned, but obediently rolled up his pant leg so she could have a look.

It didn't take her long to declare, "Your growth has slowed down! Finally!"

 **Notes:**

(1) Obviously a made-up name for some random engineer working in Urban Development, and the one Winry was introduced to in order to bring her up to speed on technology. I had no particular reason for picking that specific name. It's not important, and you don't need to remember it.


	49. 45-Visiting Re-introductions

Visiting Re-introductions

Vant had been given an address on the Upper Plate and told he was joining Tseng and the others to meet the group returning to Midgar from Rocket Town. He had been puzzled as to why, especially when he saw Anthony there—the boy had no reason to have been taken away from his training. As the party disembarked, he had thought maybe he would have to take charge of Rufus because the others needed to rest, but Reno approaching the President's son for that purpose negated his need for that. However, when Rufus moved aside, he had seen a woman with black hair whom he'd never seen before.

Or he'd thought he hadn't.

At first, his eyes had barely glanced over her—but then they had returned to her. With her hair falling down her back almost to her thighs and the locks to either side of her face cut only to brush the ear, she was attractive in a familiar-unfamiliar way. He had been about to look past her again, but then his eyes, trained as a Turk and refreshed in recent months, had begun tracing the lines of her face. Those lines had been familiar, hair color and style aside. The _lines_ had been familiar in a way he should have known intimately. His mind had begun building a different image from the one in front of him—

Realization had hit him like a ton of bricks. Part of him had wanted to slaughter Tseng for not warning him, but the larger part had been focused on her, on what he was supposed to do...Would she welcome him after so long?

He had barely retained enough sense not to say her whole name, and to not reveal any other details which may have pointed to something other than the story he and Anthony had crafted with Tseng and Veld's help, even as he had run to her to hug her. That Anthony had followed him to her, let her hug him, told him Tseng had informed the boy of at least part of what this was supposed to be, details he was notoriously lacking. He had recalled the address, so when she had asked for privacy, he agreed they had a place for the day and led her away—but he had also paused to invite Sephiroth to join them. After all, he had every right to be there, to meet her.

Now, in that private apartment Tseng had arranged, Vant led the way to the furnished living room and turned to face them as he asked, "So exactly what haven't I been told about this?" His hand rested on the woman's shoulder, the action hiding the fact that he was shaking with emotion.

She nodded, her gaze a little worried as she looked between the two men, one younger and one older. Then she said, "Tseng thought the best way to hide me was to make me Anthony's mother and your wife, so I've been renamed Lunaria Valentine. Unlike you, I'm supposed to openly show my bond with Anthony. The basic background was that there had been an incident several years prior which destroyed Koste Village (1), which had been just on the other side of the Nibel Range, and in it, we were separated and I was assumed dead. The two of you didn't take that well and isolated yourselves for many years. Knowing that background, the Turks began searching for traces of me. I think you weren't told because then your reaction would look the most realistic it could, and if we had been separated when Anthony was young enough, he would be uncertain reacting to me because his memories wouldn't be clear."

"...I had never looked up any data about the destruction of Koste Village..." Vant frowned slightly, then looked at Anthony. "Did Tseng tell you?"

"It was destroyed in a landslide and pretty much everyone died. I would have been six. There were known scattered survivors, but no one really cared or searched for them all, so us coming out of nowhere isn't really surprising," Anthony explained. "But even though—I mean, I know what the story is supposed to be, but...with—Doctor Crescent back, do I actually still have a place in the family?" The boy looked truly worried about the response he would get.

They all jumped in surprise as a pale hand gripped Anthony's shoulder, looking to see Sephiroth standing behind and between Lu—naria and Anthony. The silver haired man said, "You are being ridiculous, little brother." He then looked at the other two and said, "Before you ask, Tseng sent me here to join you." The twenty-year-old's hand was still on Anthony's shoulder.

With a small smile, Vant said, "He seems to be quite far ahead of us all this time." His gaze then went to Anthony as he said, "And Anthony, feelings don't just go away because something changes in our lives. You're an established part of this family, and the only real question is how well you and Luc...Lunaria will get along. If the story placed you at age six when we thought she had died, it would be entirely expected for you to need time to adjust to one another again. In that sense, you have time to work out your dynamic." His eyes moved to Sephiroth as he added, "And yours."

After a pause, the silver haired man agreed, "As I have never known my mother and only recently found out she was not Jenova, it would be understandable. Also, as I am not 'technically' a member of the family, I should not become too familiar with her too quickly. Not in public, at least."

"Hojo told you Jenova was your mother?" Lunaria gasped in shock and horror.

"He did," Sephiroth agreed.

The woman looked between Anthony and Sephiroth for a minute before lifting her hands to rest them on the silver haired man's shoulders. "If he's the one who raised you, as much as I doubt it could be called 'raising', you've become a remarkably fine young man." She smiled and moved forward to hug him. "Throughout the pregnancy, I kept seeing images, terrible things which showed you as an adult destroying villages, killing people. I was so ashamed of what I had allowed Hojo to do, using my child that way, and I truly feared those things would happen with Jenova's influence. Rather than staying to help you, to hopefully prevent that outcome, I ran away and—tried to end my life, but that didn't work, so I hid instead. I'm so sorry for abandoning you to him..."

After a stunned moment, Sephiroth lifted his arms to put them around her. It took him some time to process the words before he finally said, "The dangers you speak of may have been more true than not had Jenova not been destroyed. While I have no desire to—follow those paths now, different events could have caused much different results. What do you mean about Jenova's influence?"

"She has a powerful mind and a will strong enough and cunning enough to find and exploit all a person's weaknesses," Lunaria sighed, letting him go and standing back a bit to meet his eyes as she rested her hands on his shoulders again. "She tried...Her cells duplicate very easily, so the cells you had been infused with duplicated and transferred to me. I could hear her talking into my head, trying to get me to do things I didn't want to do, but I just didn't want to, and I was getting tired of hearing that destructive litany, so I went back to the place where everything had begun and put myself into a form of stasis there. Her power—the Turk who freed me, she nearly caused his death by fighting against him over my fate."

"Who was that?" Sephiroth and Vant both asked with something like a sense of pending doom.

"Apparently the Turks have code names now?" she asked, and they nodded. "His is Eden."

Both men released pained sighs as Anthony blinked and stared, but it was the younger boy who commented, "But he looked fine when we saw him just now."

Lunaria shook her head. "His hand landed in the stagnant Mako pool and began mutating. Aeris was able to heal him with help from a Summon, but his hand still has some scars and related issues. You wouldn't really know it unless he had his glove off."

They stared at her, then traded tired looks as Sephiroth said, "Eden requires a keeper..."

Vant huffed a small chuckle and shook his head. "I don't think any of the Turks could effectively do that with him, though. He's too skilled."

"Regardless, this was about the strength Jenova has, even when greatly weakened by her main body's destruction," Lunaria put in quietly, and the other three looked at her.

"So we have to be prepared to meet that strength," Vant commented, and the woman nodded. "Part of that means making sure her ties are severed by moving forward. If I had never met Eden, I would have still been completely weak and wallowing in guilt and self-pity—no help whatsoever in stopping anything which is endangering the world. I thought...When I saw you there, I thought you would hate me for not being able to protect you or our son. That would have been a weakness she could exploit."

Lunaria looked aside for a minute, then looked back up at him and said, "I thought you would hate me for infusing Chaos into you."

"I never hated you," he answered. "I hated myself and thought that was my punishment for everything I had failed to do. My demons were my own to face, which included the ones Hojo gave me as well as the one you did. But I started moving forward when Eden presented the thought that maybe Sephiroth wasn't Hojo's son after all, and if he was mine—maybe it was late, but I still had the chance to be a father. My bonds with Sephiroth and Anthony have been probably the biggest stabilizing factors in my life since Eden dragged me out of that dungeon I had locked myself in." He paused, then shook his head as he gave a wry smile. "I only wish in your case that I was physically capable of intimacy still. (2) If you would have me."

Both Sephiroth's and Anthony's eyes widened before they blushed faintly and turned to stare at one another, their gazes asking, "Are they really going to talk about _that_ in front of us?"

With a soft chuckle, the woman shook her head and said, "I don't mind, really. Of course, I would have you—even when I was with Hojo, I still preferred you, and I wish Grimoire hadn't ended up putting a wedge between us. But right now, I don't really have those urges any more than you do, so it's really no loss, and I think we both have better things to do with our time." Her gaze turned to the two slightly flushed younger men, and her brow cocked as she addressed Sephiroth, "Do you mean to tell me an attractive, twenty-year-old man hasn't had any escapades with women—or whatever your preference is?"

"No, ma'am," the silver haired man answered, expression mortified. "Unfortunately, I was taught such things were weaknesses, and the two I had wanted to have such interactions with were murdered before things could progress so far. Any others in my life have been friends or family to me."

She sighed sadly and asked no one in particular, "So how did Hojo manage to convince himself that the act leading to procreation was a weakness when he wouldn't have any of his 'subjects' without it?"

"He likely didn't want his prime subject tainted until or unless he chose it," Vant commented in reply, making Lunaria look at him in mild surprise.

She then made a face and admitted, "It's rather unfortunate that you may actually have his reason right."

"Okay, can we stop discussing stuff like that now, please?" Anthony asked, sounding about as mortified as Sephiroth looked.

Both Vant and Lunaria looked at him in mild surprise before chuckling, then the woman asked, "In that case, could the two of you tell me how you've been living your lives so far? I know very little about your actual background, Anthony, and I need to know so I have some idea of how you'll react to things."

The four of them spent the rest of the day and part of the night catching up on their lives up to that point.

SH

Zack led Kunzel to his room on the SOLDIER First Class floor, then spun to face him as he asked, "So, did you keep an eye on Aeris for me?" He was grinning like a maniac as he did, even as he reached out to strip off Kunzel's helmet.

The older man glared at him faintly as he said, "Of course I did. She's remarkably capable and a quick study, and nothing happened which she couldn't handle herself. She was supporting the group and participating as much as everyone else—she may be 'your flower', but she's definitely _not_ a 'delicate, helpless flower'. I'm not sure why so many people are obsessed with protecting her, because outside Hojo's interest in—well, anything unusual, she's capable of protecting herself. My advice is to let her do what she wants and only jump in if she meets something she can't handle herself. She's plenty strong otherwise, and I really think she'll be legitimately ready for the Northern Crater when we get there."

The younger SOLDIER blinked, then blinked again and took a step back as he laughed. Kunzel crossed his arms with a glare, prompting Zack to say, "That's not the problem. I thought she didn't really know what she was getting in to, and she's never actually picked up a weapon and defended herself before, just let everyone else do it for her. Also, I meant for you to keep an eye on her and let me know about cute scenes or if someone was trying to hit on her, that sort of thing. It's good to know she's able to make the trip on her own power, though. That's a bonus."

Kunzel's lips twitched slightly as he sighed in exasperation and said, "No, no one is 'hitting on her', though Captain Cid apparently figured she should be hidden away at home because she looks so delicate. As for cute scenes...it would help if you defined that, because I'm not going to turn into a possible peeping Tom just to maybe get a photo of, say, the ladies brushing one another's hair."

"Oooo, that _would_ be cute, but no, I wouldn't want you to become a peeping Tom on my girl, anyway," Zack grinned impishly, waving the older man off. He wandered into the living room and tossed Kunzel's helmet onto the couch as he said, "Make yourself at home and I'll get drinks." As the more slender man was choosing a place to sit, Zack went to his fridge and chose a couple drinks, one for himself and one for Kunzel, both of them alcoholic. By the time he returned to the seats, his friend had set his helmet on the coffee table and picked one of the cushioned chairs to sit in, so he handed him the drink.

"Now, what else happened?" Zack asked curiously, sitting on the couch and facing Kunzel, his gaze oddly serious. "I don't think there would have been much up to Junon, but something happened in the second part. Maybe more than one something."

The Second was silent for a minute before saying, "We have orders from the Commander to leave what happens with the Turks in their hands, so I can't tell you part of that. I'm not sure I _should_ be telling you about some of the other things that happened."

For a moment, Zack was quiet, until he finally asked, "So what happened to the hidden-Turk-Kunzel who always at least dropped hints for me about strange things?"

"...Strange..." the other man sighed, looking off into the distance. He then gave a faint smile and commented, "You know, Eden really is the odd man out, even more than Tseng. There's just something about him which almost screams 'you have to notice me, and if you don't, I'll make you.' The weird part is how easy it is to talk with him, like I'm just compelled to share with him what he wants to know. It's not like he interrogates anyone, just asks out of genuine curiosity. But that time, it was Aeris, Roy, and Genesis who drew the most attention, even though Eden was nearly permanently maimed. Figure out _that_ dynamic."

Zack's eyes widened with worry as he said, "But the dynamic isn't that strange when they _all_ have Cetra blood. Eden was nearly maimed?"

Kunzel blinked, then blinked again and asked, "Eden and Genesis, too?"

"Yeah, just in a different format. I think we wouldn't know anything about this if Eden hadn't turned up and started attracting attention, though, even of the Summons. Because it was the Summons who opened up the issue of how much we know about Cetra society, how they lived, what roles they had, what abilities came with those roles. I found out the Cetra have two general functions and power structures, the Sentinels, like Eden, Genesis, and Roy, and the Healers, like Aeris. It's the Sentinel's jobs to protect the Healers, and they're academics and warriors—it's in their nature to draw attention, which _also_ draws attention _away_ from the Healers. Healers are gentle and unassuming, and usually just blend right into the background unless you're looking for them, but they also are the ones who fix people, plants, animals—the Planet."

"...Shouldn't Hojo and Hollander be a lot more interested in Genesis if he has Cetra blood?"

"They should, except I'm pretty sure Sentinel genetics register differently from Healer genetics. I'm not clear on the details and I'm sure not going to try to scientifically study something like that, but our Science people don't register the genetics of a Sentinel as Cetra genetics on the assumption that Healers are the base genetic form of that race. Normally, with other races, that would be true, too, but by default, that means Sentinels have to just not show the key traits people like Hojo think makes a Cetra," the younger man explained. "Of course, Genesis has it bad enough _without_ Hojo knowing he has Cetra blood, so I don't plan to fill him in."

"...And _your_ interest in Aeris is...?" the older of the pair asked, gaze wary.

"Me? She's gorgeous! And she's sweet and gentle, and she's patient and so, so understanding, and she laughs at my jokes, and every time she's nearby, it's like a breath of fresh air, and—" Zack began, his expression completely smitten.

"Okay, I get the picture," Kunzel chuckled, cutting Zack off. The younger of the two blinked at him in surprise. "If you're still together in five years, you have my blessings."

"Five...?" Zack stared, then his eyes widened in horror. "Five _years_? Even Aunt Izumi isn't so harsh!"

"...Aunt Izumi?"

"...Oops...Well, how about we go meet her, since Aeris will be awhile?"

"...Okay, I guess..."

The two got up to leave, Kunzel putting his helmet on again as he left the apartment.

SH

Tseng and the temporarily blond Aeris went to his office (and noted on the way that Riha was nowhere to be seen), where he closed the door, then led the fifteen-year-old to the wall in the corner of the room and triggered it to open. They stepped inside and he led her to one of the rooms which was designed like an apartment, where he motioned her to look around while he checked how the fridge and cupboards were stocked.

She explored in something like amazement, then returned to sit at the kitchen table. "So, what's this and why are you showing it to me?" she asked curiously.

The twenty-year-old looked faintly amused as he went back to the fridge and pulled out a jug of juice to show her—standard apple juice. She nodded acceptance, so he poured glasses and took them to the table, then sat across from her. "This is something we've kept up mainly because you never know when someone will need a temporary hideaway. In your case, I really thought about just having you go home to your mother, but then I realized that would actually put you in _a lot_ of danger of discovery, disguise or not. As such, until you're ready to return home—and stay there—it's better if you take your rest time here. Obviously, that means you can join me in my office when I'm not with one of the Turks who doesn't know about you, and as long as you're in disguise, you may even be able to look around the building some."

"So...I'd be able to visit Winry or Zack or Eden?" Aeris blinked.

"I assumed you would want to, and this will be the trial for whether or not we can feasibly keep you safe and hidden in these circumstances. You'll need a Turk escort to get onto the floor where Winry's office is, but Zack and Eden both live and work on floors people have access to. If someone becomes a little _too_ interested in you, even knowing you're Zack's girlfriend, we may have to make alternate arrangements for you and Cissnei, possibly staying in Rocket Town while the others return here. If the destination is Junon, things should be easier because people like Hojo won't be there."

"So how do I let Mom know I'm okay?" the girl asked as she sat back to look around the room they were in again.

"Write a letter which I'll have a Turk deliver in an unmarked envelope," he immediately offered.

She looked back at him and met his gaze as she said, "I don't think you're handling Eden the right way right now."

"I told you my reasons already," Tseng answered evenly. "He can't work on anything without Genesis, anyway, and Reno knows already that if I send Genesis to wherever they're working on any given day, he can let Eden go."

"Does _Genesis_ know that?" Aeris asked shrewdly.

The Wutain blinked then blinked again and pulled out his PHS to send a note to Genesis, informing the man of the arrangement. "He does now," he said as he put his phone away and looked back up at her.

Giving him a small smile, Aeris said, "Okay, that's better, but...I just feel like something is off..."

"Off?" Tseng asked with a small frown. "In what way?"

With a small shake of the head, the younger girl sighed and said, "Ever since his hand...He's been tired a lot more, and sort of...not all there? I don't know how to explain it. I'd think it was depression if he was showing more signs, but I guess the best I can say is something more like melancholy or like there's a weight on him which wasn't there before. I'm not sure what to do about it, and even Minerva doesn't know."

For a minute, the Wutain Turk was quiet, but then he shook his head and said, "That's not a lot to go on, but I guess we should keep an eye on him. In that regard, if it's something like depression, letting him just have time off where he does nothing but sleep won't really help him, especially not with recovery. I know enough about him to know his normal habits would include visiting his friends or raiding the library if he's not working, so if he just opts to sleep, there may be something wrong. We won't really be able to do anything about it until we know if something's wrong and what the cause is, but I'd rather he not be allowed to wallow in whatever it is, either way."

"Mmm..." the girl murmured, then gave a nod and got up to hug Tseng. With his head leaning against her belly, she said, "I know it's hard for you to be the Director so soon. I mean, I knew Veld already had his eye on you as his replacement, but being the acting Director is a lot less stress than being the actual Director. How are you _really_ holding up with all the new expectations on you?"

He released a small sigh and shut his eyes as he leaned against her, letting her hug him. "It's a lot harder than I expected it to be. Veld made it look easy, but he'd also been doing it for a very long time, and I...Well, I expected to be able to learn from him for several more years, at least." He paused as he thought about how his life had changed. "I don't regret it, really, but there are mistakes I made which I should never have made, and the only real reason I'm holding things together this well is because I still talk with Veld every so often, get advice or get directed to more data. I have no one else to turn to, and even Reno is having trouble filling his new shoes with the sudden switch. In a way, putting Eden on disciplinary duty and having Reno watch over him is giving Reno a lot more time and ability to adapt to his command role, and he's learned quite a few things he needed to from that position...from Eden. But one of the things I regret the most is _having_ to give Eden that discipline, even though I _know_ I had to do it."

"Well, kids _are_ going to misbehave sometimes, and you _do_ have to discipline them. And even adults sometimes misbehave. At least it wasn't a criminal offense," Aeris said in amusement. "I think you're right to stick to the punishment in normal circumstances, and if the incident with the stagnant Mako hadn't happened, I'd be all for what you've done with Eden now. His reactions just aren't normal, that's why I'm not sure it's best."

Tseng had to smile a bit at the first part, but then he sighed at the second. "I know. We'll keep an eye on him and see if we can figure it out."

"Maybe it would be easier for you if you really got a proper night's sleep?"

"...If things weren't so hectic..."

"Tseng, they won't get less hectic just because you work harder. Sleep. That's really more important."

Before he knew it, he had relaxed to the point of falling asleep leaning against his sister, secure in her safety and her company.

 **Notes:**

(1) This is a made-up village which would have been almost directly south of Rocket Town at the edge of the northern Nibel Mountain Range, just in a position where it could be hit by any sort of 'slide' (mudslide/rockslide) disaster. The world would technically have many of these kinds of villages across it, but they aren't key locations and are generally skipped past by travelers using what pass as Gaia's 'main' travel routes. This was one which slipped through the cracks, didn't get the help it needed, and so just sort of vanished. Now, the Turks can use that to their advantage.

(2) I know, most people think Vincent is 'a vampire' and operates by the same rules, which means he's both interested in and capable of sex. The reality is—he's a fucking preserved corpse (who had clinically died BEFORE he was experimented on), NOT a vampire, meaning his body isn't capable of sexual functions. No, he can't have sex. No, he can't actually 'breathe'. No, his body doesn't properly process food, and sure as Hell doesn't need blood intake. He can feel emotions, but his physical body isn't capable of reacting to some of them in the way a normal, living, man's would. If I'm in the mood for pure smut, I choose not to nit-pick this point because I really don't care in that case, but this story isn't ABOUT smut, and I'm actually trying to be realistic, which means taking into account his actual body status. Despite him being capable of feeling love, or even lust, emotionally, it will never affect his physical body, just like sorrow or pain can't actually make him cry—produce tears.


	50. 46-Adapting Alphonse

Adapting Alphonse

Al was just—trudging through the Shinra building's lobby on his way home after finding out his last class of the day had been canceled, wondering what he should do and hoping Ed would stop trying to call him soon. His depressed thoughts were interrupted by a hand on his shoulder, making him turn to look at an annoyed Rufus with Reno a few steps away.

"You haven't been answering Eden's calls or messages," the older blond said, and Reno blinked, looking between the two in confusion and curiosity. "Why?"

"He's not my brother anymore," Al replied sadly, clenching his fists and willing away tears. "You won—you should be happy about that."

Rufus made an annoyed sound and punched Al in the jaw, startling both Reno and Al enough for the younger blond to just stare at him in shock as he held a hand to his sore jaw. Several other people nearby had turned to look in surprise, but Rufus kept his voice low as he said to Al, "You little fool. You really have no grasp of the actual reality of the world or Eden, or even each of our relationships to him, do you? If all you were doing right now was hurting yourself, I may not particularly care, but you're hurting _Eden_ , too, and that's not okay."

The President's son paused, then poked the Academy student in the chest, saying, "It doesn't have to be you or me. Maybe my having traveled with him for the last few weeks has made a difference because it made me aware that many of the things I was doing were similar to your interactions with him, but—you're his brother by blood and nothing can change that. You and he even had—would _have_ if you would get your head out of your ass—a better familial relationship than most. I'm only—an honorary brother of a sort. I sincerely doubt he kept your sanity intact in the past just to lose you now."

He stopped, looking momentarily confused, then sighed and said, "I certainly digressed. The point is, we can _both_ be his brothers. Even if you and he have different paths now, it doesn't mean you need to lose your friendship and caring for one another. Eden has a surprisingly large heart, and he certainly doesn't mind sharing it with many people. Stop hurting him and yourself because you _think_ there's only room for one of us in his life—he's got room for both of us and some." Rufus then gave Al's shoulder a pat and walked past him out of the building followed by a curious Reno, even as Al's brain promptly shut down.

On auto-pilot, Al managed to turn back to the doors and wander absently out into the streets, heading to his apartment through little more than habit, his mind whirling.

He had felt threatened by everything that had changed, and guilty that no one was angry with him for ruining their lives—and devastated to realize nothing was ever going to be the same again. Ed had become a killer, the world had so many things he'd never seen or heard of before, he'd suddenly been expected to have the responsibility of an adult, he'd had to make his own way instead of following another's path. He had gotten used to being invincible only to have to face the reality of the fact that he could really feel pain now, and that he was much more vulnerable. It had felt like everything was working against him, and 'losing' Ed to Rufus had nearly pushed him over the edge, just like the time he'd thought he was just a fiction created by his brother.

But then Mustang had said that, if Al hadn't gotten his head on straight that time, he would have 'put him out of his misery.' Would he have wanted that? If he'd been left to deteriorate rather than Ed and Winry pulling him back, would he have been sane enough to know? Part of him realized for the first time that he'd probably not have wanted to live if he'd really gotten so bad he'd truly thought he'd never existed as a real person. It wasn't a far cry to go from that to whatever torture the people in Deepground had suffered to make them soulless dolls. Eden hadn't done anything wrong.

If Eden hadn't done anything wrong, then it was true the older blond had grown up and chosen a different path, one Al couldn't follow him on...But as much as that had left him feeling like he'd been left in the lurch, it had also shoved him into a very different life. People respected him (or didn't respect him) as an adult based on his behavior, the things he chose to do or not do. For all the things which were different and new, he'd been finding himself far less alienated from his current peers due to his intelligence than he ever had in Amestris. Not only did he have friends, but Eden was making an effort to maintain their bond, even if it was different now—it was Al who had tried to cut _him_ off.

He really had been thinking that he was forcing Ed to choose if he tried to stay in his life, and so much more harm would come to the world if Ed chose him, so he'd made the choice for his brother. It had been painful and had made him feel like he was mourning, in a way, which was part of what had led to him not doing the things he should have been doing. That, and simply trying to hold onto the past. But he'd forgotten how both of them had made friends and tried to help others everywhere they went—he'd forgotten that Ed didn't have to choose if Al and Rufus didn't force him to by learning to 'share'. And Al hadn't had to share Ed with anyone but Winry, really, for a very long time.

It only hit him right then that there had never been something to 'force Ed to choose,' because it wasn't 'Gaia' or 'Amestris', it was all just Gaia now. The Planet was their home, all of theirs, so there really wasn't a choice—they were all there and Ed already cared, so he was going to help them. Even if he'd changed, he had never stopped caring. He would never stop caring, and if Al had truly tried to force a choice on his older brother—it wouldn't have gone over well, and would have practically torn Ed's heart out. Especially because it would have been pointless now that all their lives had changed so much.

When faced with all those realities, Al suddenly realized the technology was a rather minor point, and had its own bizarre appeal which took a lot of the edge off everything he'd managed to screw up for others and in his own life.

Wait, hadn't Ed's group returned if Rufus was there?

Blinking, his eyes cleared and he realized he was standing in his living room, staring blankly at the wall beside the balcony doors. A sudden weight on his foot made him look down, to see one of his kittens pouncing on it while the other watched from nearby.

"I've really made a mess of things, haven't I?" he asked them.

Both meowed at him and attacked his feet, clearly saying, "Stop moping and play with us!"

He chuckled, then remembered all the calls and text messages he'd gotten from Eden over the weeks. Pulling out his PHS, he held it in front of his face for a moment, then sighed and opened it, typing in a message for Ed: _I know you're going to come. I'm at home now. We...need to talk._

SH

Eden already felt exhausted by the time he was done with Winry, but it wasn't actually abnormal for him to feel that way after she had been at his leg. As such, he headed into town to go to his brother's apartment, where he planned to just wait for him if he wasn't already there. About halfway there, he suddenly hesitated as he thought maybe he shouldn't go, but then a text message came in—and when he checked the sender, it was from Al, so he quickly opened it to read: _I know you're going to come. I'm at home now. We...need to talk._

With a startled blink, then a small, hopeful smile, he replied: _I'll be there in a few, I was already on my way._ He could only hope he'd now find out why Al hadn't been answering him, and that it wasn't going to cause a rift between them too large to be mended. Eden reached down to pick Libby up for comfort and kept walking, soon arriving at the building and going up to his brother's apartment.

When he knocked on the door, it was opened before he'd even finished knocking, and Al stood there, looking almost resigned and nervous, but more determined than he had the last time the two had met before Ed had left. "Hi..." the younger blond began tentatively, then sighed as he suddenly made a sweeping motion with his foot which shoved a small, black kitten away from the door as it gave a squeaky, little meow of protest. "No, you can't go out, Kuro. And if you try, you'll get hurt." The younger blond was still in his Academy uniform, other than the red suit jacket. "Get inside quickly, before they try to make a break for it," Al sighed then, eyes quickly scanning the entryway.

As Eden stepped inside, he saw there was a second kitten besides the black one, but it was a mostly white calico with black on one side of its face, brown-orange on the other, and only a few random spots of color on its body. It had just come careening around the corner and jumped on the black kitten, who yelped, took a swat at the calico and hopped backwards, right onto Eden's foot as he shut the door. When the calico bolted back into the other room, the black one followed.

"...And I had begun to wonder why I didn't want a pet..." Eden sighed, then patted the top of Libby's head. "Thank you for being so well-behaved, Libby."

"You're welcome!" she chirped happily. "I haven't seen a 'kitten' before. Can I go play with them?"

"Gently. They're only babies," he told her, then set her down on the ground. "But be careful of their claws. I don't think you'll like those in your fur much."

"Okay! Thanks!" Libby answered, then padded into the main room to look for the kittens.

Eden then looked up and met Al's gaze as he asked, "Why didn't you answer or return my calls or messages, Al? I only knew you weren't dead or kidnapped because Elena assured me you were fine."

Al looked stricken at the words, then he sighed and looked away as he said, "When Rufus and I first met...we had both basically taken one another as rivals over you. We couldn't both be your brothers, we both thought then. Sephiroth was the only one who knew that, but Reno...apparently wanted to go on a date more than do his job, so ended up ditching me with Rufus and somehow 'accidentally' locking us in one of the Turks' training rooms for hours."

"...How does someone do that 'accidentally'?" Eden asked, wondering where Al was going with the story.

"He bolted from the room so fast his sleeve caught on the outside locking mechanism," Al shrugged. "But then we—Rufus and I—let off some steam and talked for a bit...He told me Veld killed his mother, he watched it happen. He also told me...just how important you've actually become to him. It didn't take much for me to realize he'd rip apart the world if he went back to being cold and hateful, so I couldn't separate you. It took—him giving me shit earlier today for upsetting you so much for me to realize it wasn't a competition in the first place, something even he only really realized while you were traveling."

The younger blond paused and looked up to meet Ed's eyes as he said, "I thought I was doing you and the world a favor by cutting ties with you so you could focus on him. At the time, I didn't think anything was wrong with how I was thinking. Then again, a lot had been wrong with my thinking, and I only tangibly realized I'm not in the suit of armor anymore when I...realized I had attracted Hojo's attention by not listening to everyone else."

"What do you mean, you attracted his attention?" Eden asked tensely, lips pressing into a fine line and eyes wide with alarm.

With another sigh, Al said, "Apparently, I'm a Cetra Healer, and I was warned to keep seeds on hand just in case. I chose not to believe them enough to even humor them, so...I ended up passing out in class at about the same time some orange seeds grew into trees in the cafeteria. Tseng told me even with their information control, it was only a matter of time before Hojo would find out and come after me, but so far, he hasn't tried, and we don't know if he's figured it out yet or not. Still...It suddenly hit me that I'd actually _feel_ him torture me. I guess...when Rufus told me we could both be your brothers, a whole lot came together for me all at once, and I suddenly realized I've really been an ass. To everyone. I'm not sure how Elena, Shalua, and Shelke put up with me so much of the time."

Ed looked faintly amused by the comment, but then he reached forward and gripped Al's shoulder tightly. "Al, you're my brother, you've been with me since I was—like, a little over a year old. That kind of bond doesn't just go away, even if I make some new bonds—and you didn't feel nearly so threatened by the Turks who declared themselves my siblings...What made Rufus different?"

The younger boy was silent for a minute before he sighed and said, "I think they fit more in the category Mr. Hughes had with the way you dealt with them, so I didn't really feel they were trying to take you away from me. But Rufus isn't one of them, and clearly demands your time, and hates it when he doesn't get it—so, more in my category, and with the way I'd been thinking, that also meant he was a threat. Anyway, we should sit down. Will the kitchen table do for now?"

"Yeah," Ed agreed, but as Al started to turn away from him, he pulled him back and drew him into a tight hug. "I'm glad you weren't attacked or anything. We'll figure the rest out."

Slowly, Al lifted his own arms to hug Ed back, remembering what it had once meant to be close with his brother, feeling tears gathering in his eyes as he recalled what he had been missing. They just stood there for a minute before releasing one another.

After giving his eyes a quick rub, Al looked up at the other blond—and both noted they were actually fairly close in height right then, but Al was still a little taller—to give him a small smile. He then led the way to the table and sat, followed by Ed, who sat across from him and quickly scanned the room—he could see the whole living room from there, too. Frankly, what he saw amazed him, because while Al had a few vines growing, most of the plants were flowers, small trees, or bushes.

In the middle of the living room was a clear space for the furniture, but other than a path to the balcony doors, the quarter of the room nearest said doors had become a jungle of plant pots. One bush was growing berries, one tree looked like it was growing mini bananas, and the rest were varying shades of green with some white or dark purple-red offsets. There were a couple ferns near the pool, some water lilies and reeds in it, and two different pitcher plants, one on each side of the pool. Further from the pool were broad-leafed plants of varying types, the bush plants, and the trees, with a cactus next to the balcony door as far from the pool as it could get. There were also a few plants in other places around the room. He'd thought Winry's vines were impressive, but if Al had done all this from seeds in all of five days or less—it was mind-boggling.

Giving a low whistle, he commented, "I'd heard about your plants from Winry, but hearing about it and seeing it are two very different things—her vines are low-key compared to this. How long ago did you put all this together? Did you do it yourself?" He motioned at the plants as he spoke.

"I—well, Felicia dragged me to a flower shop to get some seeds the same day I fainted and those trees grew in the cafeteria. As much as flowers are 'okay', I didn't actually want a lot of them growing all the time, so when I found the base for the pond, I thought trees, bushes, and ferns might be better. I got some plant pots and soil, and Felicia handed me a few packets of random seeds, but I found some really unique ones myself. Then, I thought—it would be interesting to test what would grow at what sort of rate," Al explained. "I put the pond in the corner—we already had the kittens by then, and Kuro almost got caught under it when I was trying to put it down—then started filling pots with seeds, and this ended up being the result. It all grew to this in three days."

"Wow," the older blond smiled, gaze wryly amused before he turned serious again. "How did you end up thinking you had lost me, that I was effectively better off with Rufus?"

Shaking his head, the younger answered, "You were so different. I mean, some things were the same, but...it was already a thought in my mind that I'd lost my brother. The...thing with Rufus just made that worse. It wasn't actually a new thought—that just pushed me the rest of the way over an edge I was already dangling over. In a way, I guess I was looking for an excuse to..."

"Throw a pity party?" Eden asked, expression a mix between amused and sad.

Al blinked at him uncomprehendingly for a moment, then flushed red. "Pity party...Really?"

"Isn't that what you did? Tried to make yourself into a victim when you weren't one?" the older blond asked dryly.

After a short silence, Al sighed and admitted, "Yeah, I guess there's truth to that, too. All this time, I had just wanted the brother I'd always known back, and I didn't take it well...to see how much you'd changed. I kept wanting the old you back and kept denying all the things clearly showing that person was gone." He paused, then looked up at his brother again to say, "I finally got over that. I think I can really start moving forward now...but I also think I sort of needed Rufus to give me that push."

Ed crossed his arms over his chest for a minute as he thought about what Al was saying, but then he gave the younger blond a small smile and asked, "So, does that mean you and Rufus have decided it's okay to be 'brothers', too?"

The words produced a startled blink, then Al huffed a small chuckle and said, "I guess so, in a way. But why are you asking that?"

"Rufus is—selfish and possessive," the Turk replied. "He's getting better, but he still gets easily jealous over things and people he sees as 'his'. If he really encouraged you to mend our relationship, he's accepted that it's okay to have you in his life—which means _you're_ 'his', too, now."

The younger blond blinked in surprise, then gave a faint smile. "I guess our afternoon of sparring and talking helped him decide that was okay."

"Probably," Eden agreed. "So if _you're_ here, where's everyone _else_?"

"Still in class. My teacher canceled class, though, and it was my last one of the day, so I got to head home early," Al explained.

"I see," the older blond nodded.

"So...is Libby's data storage useful?" Al asked curiously, getting up to open the fridge and pull out a container of something which looked like a kind of fruit juice.

As Al was pouring it into glasses, Eden answered, "I think so. It's been pretty useful so far, anyway, even though I've only had one chance to _retrieve_ the data, not just have her make a record of it. I'm a little surprised your kittens are taking her scent well, though, because she smells like Blood Taste and _large_ cat."

"Large cat?" Al asked in mild confusion, pushing one glass over to Ed. "Give that a try and tell me if you like it."

With one hand, Eden pulled out his phone and began looking through it, and with the other, he—carefully—picked up the glass to take a sip. It was good, so he said, "This is fine, thanks." Al grinned and put the jug away, and when he turned back to the older blond, Eden held up his PHS with a photo of the two Motos on it. "Those two are Nanaki and Deneh, apparently the only two left of their race. They have perpetually burning tail tips, sentience, and much longer life spans than ours, so even though they're only technically thirteen now, they've been alive for over forty of our years. Libby's been riding on them and on Dark Nation in the last week and a half or so."

"Oh. They look really cool, like a mountain lion that got crossed just a bit with a wolf. Will I get to meet them sometime?" Al asked, gazing at them with real interest.

"Maybe. I hope so," Eden nodded. "So, what—"

A sudden, strange mix of yowls, yelps, splashes, and squeaky meows made them both look over at the pond in surprise—then Al sighed and shook his head. "Sooner or later, they'll learn not to try landing on that one," he muttered.

On the ledge of the pond, a soaked, black kitten dragged itself out of the water as it tried to shake itself off, and not far above it hung a pitcher plant. In the mouth of the pitcher plant, the calico was dangling half in and half out of it, the tail and hind legs on the outside and thrashing as it tried to figure out how to get free. Libby hopped up onto the end table beside the pitcher plant, and as the boys watched, she reached out and carefully lifted the kitten out of the pitcher plant and set it on the table beside her. It meowed at her, then shook itself and jumped to the floor, stumbled, and caught itself before climbing onto the ledge of the pond to get a drink. Libby then watched in fascination as the pitcher plant's 'lid' closed.

"...Libby is really smart, isn't she?" Al asked with a blink.

"She is," Eden agreed dryly. "She was made for _me_. Could she have been anything but and still been something I could happily spend a great deal of time with?"

The younger blond chuckled, then looked at the black kitten with a sigh—it was still trying to dry off, alternating shaking itself and licking its fur. "I'm really glad I put plastic down under the towels, though, or those two would have caused the floor to rot by now with how many times they've tried to land on the pitcher's lid and ended up in the pool instead."

"How long have they had to get used to those pitcher plants?"

"...About a day and a half? Around that, I think. I know, that's not much time for Kuro and Esper to get used to not jumping on what looks like a stable surface to them, but until they learn, the floor is..."

Both eyed the soaked towels around the pond as the two kittens sprinted out of the room and down the hall, Kuro apparently satisfied with how dry—or not—he was.

"Esper?" Eden asked with a raised brow.

"I was thinking of Esprit because she actually has more energy than Kuro and nothing keeps her down for even two seconds, but when Shelke tried saying it and it came out sounding like 'Esper', she responded to it, so—we called her Esper. Anthony named Kuro—apparently, 'Kuro' is Wutain for 'black'?"

"It is," Eden agreed, even as both kittens bolted around the corner, ran into Al's legs, fell on their asses, and sat there looking up at him as they meowed questioningly.

"See, they know their names," Al snickered, reaching down to scoop them both up with a hand around their middles. He pulled them up to his chest and cuddled them for a few moments, causing both to purr quite happily, then set them back down. They quickly ran off to play some more.


	51. 47-Sorted

Sorted

"Now," the younger blond said suddenly, turning to face his brother with a grin, looking much more cheerful than he had when Eden had arrived. "How long are you staying for this break?"

"Well, it's not really a 'break' for me, but we'll be here for a couple days," Eden said. "We don't know how long yet, and I only have the time after supper off from storage sorting for the rest of the time we're here."

"In other words, you'll want an update now," Al replied drily, leaving the room—and stepping over the kittens as they ran back into the living room.

"Update on what?" Eden asked, shaking his head at the kittens. Libby chose to just sit on the end table and watch the pair, rather than trying to follow them anywhere. In a way, he understood their energy, since they were only just what looked like eight weeks old.

Shortly after, Al returned to the room with a stack of papers and a container in his arms. He set them down on the coffee table and motioned Ed over, so the older blond rose from the kitchen table to sit beside Al on the couch. The younger blond moved the stack of paper to the side and put the container down in front of Ed, then opened it to show a three-by three set of divided squares.

Al began pointing to compartments in the case, saying, "The first two are tries with un-Mastered Materia. They didn't work, just blew up, so you were right in saying the un-Mastered ones wouldn't work. They don't even retain any energy. Now, because you gave me that Bolt Blade Shinra's machines can make as a fusion, we tried to replicate that first, and it wasn't hard—but our result turned out a bit differently. Well, more than 'a bit', but you'll see. The one major difference was that we used Mastered ones and changed a couple of the calculations. I think it being done with arrays and not a machine helped, too, but I want to look into this method more, too. It can actually be useful."

Eden peered with interest at the objects in the box, realizing Al was updating him on the Fusion Materia project he'd given him. There were two broken and dull Materia, one flaked into fine gravel and sand, the other split into shards somewhat like orange slices. Beside it was another Materia which was yellow. In the next row were a green Materia which was glowing oddly brightly, then two more normal green ones. The bottom row had three more green Materia. Al pulled on gloves while Eden was examining them.

"So, this yellow one is our Bolt Blade by tweaking Shinra's method," Al said, reaching out to hand the yellow one to his brother. Eden took it to examine it. "As you can tell, it lets you use Bolt Blade, but you can't cast Bolt by itself. The real kicker is that it somehow has a legitimate growth cycle, and while it's lost its 'automatic' function, it now works like any normal command which has multiple levels. If we Master it, there's a good chance it'll behave like any other traditional Materia."

When the older blond nodded to show he understood the logic, Al took it back and returned it to the box, then gave him the brightly-glowing green shard. "We switched to our method to make the rest, but this one isn't the same type as the Bolt Blade or your original ideas on what to put together. Have a look and tell me what you think, because this could actually be very useful, especially if we can keep powering it up."

With a blink, the Turk pulled his sleeve up and popped one of his current Materia out of the slot, replacing it with the brightly-glowing shard. Closing his eyes, he looked at it closely, somewhat confused at first until he took a closer look at the arrays—and found them duplicated. The spells on it were Ice 4, Ice 5, and Ice 6, but it also showed a need for growth in order to access the last two. Opening his eyes and looking up at Al incredulously, he asked, "Did you double up on two Ice Materia to get this?"

"Yeah," Al answered in amusement. "But I have another set of boxes where I'm keeping most of the failures so the remains can go to Winry after I've made all the proper notes. Most don't turn dull, either. Anyway—"

"Why would the remains go to Winry?"

"She said she had some sort of idea for the powders which didn't turn dark and dull like these ones here. I didn't ask her for details."

"I see. Go on about this powered-up Ice, then."

"This one was a strange one and it was Evan who suggested that we should set the array to only add one level of the source Materia to the target Materia. And, well, it worked. That shard combines Ice 3 with another shard's Ice, Ice 2, and Ice 3. We're going to see what happens if we add Ice and Ice 2 to other shards. And we can keep compounding this to some degree, I think—but it will probably reach a point where we can't keep compounding them, because if they didn't, they'd start breaking Minerva's rules and becoming world-shattering, literally. But, if it makes the spells stronger, that's a good thing, especially if we can do it with things like Restore or Heal or Shield."

"I can see that," Eden agreed with a nod, giving it back to Al. "Just be careful while you're testing."

"Don't worry," the younger blond agreed in amusement. "Now, the next four are our tests to add opposing elements—and all of the elements—together. The first try was Fire and Ice, and five tries of _that_ blew up before Mei, Teacher, and I found the coding we needed to add the exclusion arrays so they didn't interact negatively with one another. Once we had it, we made another with Fire, Ice, and Lightning, then a third with Fire, Ice, Lighting, and Earth. We made a few of those to see if we could do other things with them, and the fourth green one was made by taking the four elements one and adding Gravity to it. The first time we tried that, it didn't work, though. This is the second try." He took the last green one out of the box and handed it to Eden. "I'd like you to take it and use it to let us know if it works right in active use."

Ed examined the Materia in his hand for a moment, then pulled the powered-up Ice off his bracer and gave it back to Al so he could slot the five-element shard and have a look at it. The one thing which jumped out at him was how much empty space the shard still had with fifteen arrays established in it, making him wonder if it would be possible to put every one of the Magic Materia into one Materia shard. He thought back to what Bugenhagen through Libby had said about the Huge Materia and thought it may just be possible, as Minerva herself had apparently done just that.

Looking up, he nodded and said, "That I can do, since this looks stable as it is. We'll see if it stays that way. I have a theory thanks to something I learned while we were traveling that you could actually combine a sample of every Magic Materia into one shard. If that's true, it may be possible to take the combined Materia and further combine it with something, but I would only do that very cautiously. Now, what's the last one?"

With a nod, a startled Al turned back to the box and took out the one in the bottom corner. "This is _our_ method of Bolt Blade." He gave it to Eden, who took it and un-slotted the five-element Materia so he could replace it with the Bolt Blade.

After a moment, the Turk blinked and looked up to say, "This works like I thought it should, with access to both the spells and Bolt Blade of any level."

"Right," Al agreed. "So, the theory you started with works as a good starting point for this, and we can keep working with combinations."

Handing the Bolt Blade back to Al so he could re-slot the five-element shard, Eden asked, "Did you figure out how a green and a blue Materia made a yellow one? After all, it's blue and yellow which make green, not—this."

"Apparently, combining an element with Elemental causes the Elemental Blade function to become a Command because you lose the automatic ability and gain growth. But, for the Magic version Bolt Blade, I'm working on some arrays to maybe let you choose a default level of the Blade which will activate unless you choose something else, and hopefully so you can reset it to a different automatic level depending on what you have to fight in a particular area," Al explained with a grin.

Grinning back, Eden agreed, "That's a great idea. Practical and useful. Looks like you're having fun if you've done this much in just the time we've been away—it's only been about three weeks."

"Yeah, but I'm an alchemist, too, and this is interesting," Al nodded. "I found the boosts and deficiencies increasing differently depending on what the combination was, too—I mean, what others will get. Ones like the five-element one seem to add the base stats of each one added in, minus a percent or so—I think the percentage it removes increases the more Materia are combined together, but it's not a whole percent for each Materia in these samples. It might have something to do with the strength of the Materia being added, too. The five-element caused the—it was about two percent off the combined total—minus another percent for Gravity by itself. The way it seems to work with the Ice-on-Ice type seems to be sort of an incremental increase based on the original increments from the basic shard. Ones like the Magic Bolt Blade just add them together, though they seem to reduce casting cost slightly, but the Command Bolt Blade set its own stats which were more in line with other typical Command ones."

"That's definitely something to track to see if you can figure out the trends," Eden agreed. "I'm thankful you've taken this and managed to get it going so far."

"Yeah, I figured you would. It's just..."

"Just?"

"I worked on it more than I probably should have and had to tone it down a bit before my teachers at the Academy got angry," Al sighed, but he looked a bit amused.

"Did you get into trouble?" Eden asked with a blink. Al didn't get into trouble!

"It's like back when we were little kids in school and the work was so boring and easy that we worked on alchemy in class instead of school work. I just got a reprimand and a warning, so I just won't work on that in class anymore and do my homework instead, so I have as much free time when away from school as possible," the younger blond shrugged.

"...And how's Evan doing?"

"Pretty good. More like great now that he has some idea of what's going on and what's being imprinted in his head. And he's in the habit of drawing the array as soon as he sees it, which means they don't tend to assault him and he can now sometimes go two or three days without imprints. It may get longer the longer he's getting them down on paper immediately, but we'll have to wait and see on that."

"That's great. How are you enjoying being a teacher?"

"...It's a lot better then I thought it would be."

"You agreed to do something you didn't think you'd like?" Eden asked with a raised brow as he picked up Al's notes on their fusion Materia to skim over them.

"It's not really that I thought I wouldn't like it," Al admitted, shaking his head. "I thought I wouldn't be any good at it because—you know, different world and all? But it's turned out to be pretty fun, and Evan is really a good kid. Alchemy doesn't change between here and our world, so the same rules apply, and everything I already knew is what Evan needs to know. By some of the things I've heard in my Materia class, _they_ have most of the rules, causes, and effects wrong, too, so I actually proved to them just how wrong one of the lessons was. The teacher got really flustered and called the Principal, but the Principal came to see who she meant—and took one look at me and told her to let me do what I wanted because he really didn't want to piss off the Turks."

Eden snickered at the rendition, but had to ask through his amusement, "And what did the class think about the reference to the Turks?"

With a shrug and a wry grin, Al said, "About half of them already knew so it didn't change anything. The other half, including the bullies I had been avoiding for the last two weeks, turned pale and I haven't had any problems since. I don't think it's avoidance—they just don't do things like trying to corner or threaten me anymore. The other students are more respectful, too. Is that from you? I mean, just because you're a Turk and I'm registered as having Turk support to be here?"

"I think that has more to do with the fact that Tseng is involved in this, and they're probably thinking you're going through some lessons and tests to make you more efficient for either the Turks or SOLDIER. Of course, you aren't, but they don't know that. And if you weren't so mellow and nice, you'd probably qualify for them, too."

"...Being nice is a detriment to a Turk or SOLDIER? Wait, isn't that younger blond Turk, the guy, really friendly? Shouldn't he have been disqualified if being nice was a deterrent to being hired?"

"Quis is friendly—at least, from what I've heard from the others, since I haven't spent much time with him personally—but his friendliness basically sticks within the Turks, not others outside it. And no, being friendly isn't a deterrent, but Tseng can order Quis to murder a thirteen-year-old spy and he'll do it—something you could never do, even if that same thirteen-year-old had caused innocent deaths by handing off information to terrorists. Even _I_ would have trouble doing it, but if I knew the end result, I can now make that choice because—well, I already told you about that. And SOLDIER isn't much better, you're just a lot more likely to be sent to fight monsters there these days, rather than humans. That doesn't exclude killing humans, though," Eden replied, still flipping through the notes Al had made on the Alchemic Fusion Materia.

The younger blond made a face. "That one still bothers me—the brother I knew willingly killing people. That was one of the changes I had least wanted to accept."

"It's hard on me, too, you know. Even if I can do it..." Eden replied, putting the notes back on the table with a sigh.

"...Yeah, I gathered that after I found out you actually would have been on suicide watch if you hadn't been so badly injured in Deepground," Al said quietly.

"...I what?" Ed blinked in surprise. "Wait, first, how do you even _know_ something like that?"

"Teacher looked into it and told me later about the notes in the Turks' files. She said they had known what they were sending you into, and what kind of person you were, so if you hadn't needed nearly twenty-four hour monitoring in the hospital anyway, you'd have been given time off and put on suicide watch. They wouldn't have needed to do that if it didn't bother you to kill, especially to kill victims of torture."

For a minute, the blond Turk was quiet, then he sighed and said, "Part of me wishes I could have stayed ignorant of true cruelty and blind to half of reality or more." He paused and leaned back, lifting his arms to rest them on the back of the couch as he met Al's gaze. "But I'm finding reality doesn't work that way, especially not here. And each Turk has more gall than the Flame Bastard, Hawkeye, and Teacher combined, so they won't let me stay in that happy little world where I thought I knew everything. When I think about it now, Hughes did the same thing, he just had...ended up with a much more limited time to do it in, or he might have been able to fix more things for all of us. Then again, he was from the Amestrian version of the Turks, so maybe 'gall' is something ingrained into good spies."

Al had to chuckle at that as he said, "In which case, you always technically belonged with them, since you always had that kind of gall in spades." Eden gave a wry grin as the younger blond paused and his expression became serious again. "But did you never realize how much we helped you? How much more we wanted to, but you never—you refused it? Maybe if we'd had more 'gall', you wouldn't have needed to come here because you'd have realized all these things back home."

Eden had to pause for a minute to think about what Al was saying. There were a lot of things he didn't know because he had ignored a lot of people while they were living their daily lives and nothing was happening with them which required his immediate attention. To some degree, he'd allocated even people like Fuery to that 'normally ignore' category. Because he'd done that, he really had no idea if they had ever tried to help him or if he had ever refused it, but after some of his talks with Rude and Balto, it was even possible he'd done so—and miscalculated some things horribly in the process. It wouldn't have been the first time.

"About not having come here, or things like that, I'd still probably have come here if that was what would have restored you," Eden said at last. "I never regretted that. Maybe if I had seen some of those things, I would have more easily chosen to return—or at least to have wanted to return—to Amestris, but those are 'what ifs' we can never actually know now. There's no point in pining over something you can never have back, Al, unless you're prepared to slaughter everyone in Midgar to open the Gate again, and you'd have no guarantee of returning to Amestris. In fact, by the sounds of things, we'd all just get dropped on yet another world in need of saving."

With a small snort, Al admitted, "You're probably right by the way Truth decided things and made it a one-way trip to start with."

They turned their attention back to the Materia for a bit longer before the other kids all got back—even Mei, Yufi, and Evan were with them, since they were visiting with Shelke, who truly did adore the kittens. Eden spent the rest of the evening visiting with them, only leaving when it was almost eleven, and went right to bed when he got home.

SH

The next morning, Eden went to eat in the cafeteria after leaving Libby in the library so she could copy any data on Materia and arrays she could find, only to have Reno sit down beside him with his meal and his PHS in one hand. "'Kay, weren't ya done sortin' sixty-three, yo?" the red haired teen asked tiredly as he yawned.

"And I thought _I_ was the tired one..." Eden commented wryly. "I did, but why are you asking?"

"Director Lazard sent ta Tseng to ask 'im if you're still doin' sortin'. 'Cause Tseng told him you are, Lazard asked ya to do SOLDIER storage next, yo," Reno explained, showing the blond the message. "What, were ya out all night partyin', too?"

"No, I slept after I came back from Al's, but I'm still exhausted. I don't even know why, because I shouldn't feel like this—ever," Eden sighed, shaking his head a bit. "I guess if you were partying, it's your own fault, though, so I have no sympathy for that. At least you mostly get to just sit around and do nothing all day..." At the last, he made a face.

Reno gave a grinning smirk and said, "Yup, fantastic for me, yo!" He then dove into his food like a starving man, leaving the blond shaking his head again.

"...So, SOLDIER storage. Is there any sort of system in place there already?" he asked after finishing his meal. "Or has Lazard requested anything, for that matter?"

The other young man made a dismissing motion with one hand and said, "Should be pretty obvious what the system's supposed ta be, yo. He didn't say anythin' 'bout that, either, so probably doesn't care, long as it gets sorted." He paused, then asked, "What's wrong with yer hand, yo?"

"Huh?" Eden blinked, then looked up at him and asked in amazement, "You realized something was wrong when it doesn't show if I've been taking care of it properly?"

Setting his fork down, the red haired eighteen-year-old reached over to grab Eden's left hand and pull it towards him, which incidentally also forced the younger Turk to turn to face him because Reno was to his right. The older teen then proceeded to pull off his glove, then blinked and stared at the scars on the hand he held, turning it over and back several times as he examined it. After several minutes, he put the glove in the hand, then released it and turned back to his meal long enough to finish it—all of maybe a minute or two. He then sat back and turned to gaze at the younger man with an odd expression in his eyes for another minute.

Finally, he commented, "At a glance, I'd've thought of burns, but I've seen burns, yo, and those ain't them. Saw some folks in the Slums, though...high as Hellfire on Mako drugs, an' their skin started warpin'. _That's_ what those scars look like, yo."

With a sigh, Eden muttered, "I thought Tseng was trying to _hide_ what happened..."

Smirking, the red head answered, "I ain't a Turk for nothin', and ya oughtta know by now ya can't hide nothin' from us, yo. 'Sides, ya freaked Rude out somethin' awful when ya told 'im, so he asked me what I thought you'd have ta deal with."

"...Rude...Is that why he took so long to get back to me a few times?" Eden muttered, suddenly feeling so tired he had to put his head down on the table, tray nudged to the side. He didn't think the tiredness had to do with the discussion, but just was an extension of the tiredness he already felt.

"Dunno that part, yo," the other teen shrugged. "But yer hand ain't workin' right, so it don't take a genius ta realize the two go hand-in-hand, yeah?"

Eden snorted at the obviously unintentional pun, then commented, "I didn't realize you and Rude were so close."

Shrugging again, Reno replied, "Happens when ya work together for a few years, yo."

The blond just made a grunt-like noise to indicate he'd heard the older Turk.


	52. 48-Reality Check

**A/N:** Don't mind me...I had to seriously embarrass Ed in this chapter to make up for the stressful discussion which HAS to happen between him and Winry at the end. :P In this case—Winry REALLY wanted to get this off her chest. O.O

Reality Check

Realizing he wasn't going to get any less tired, Eden sighed and pushed himself up from the table. "I guess we'd better go so I can get to work. I've never needed the storage rooms on the SOLDIER or Turk floors, so you'll have to show me."

"Got it," Reno agreed, also rising and leading the way. When they were in the elevator, he asked, "You got everythin', yo?" The couple other employees in the elevator blinked at them.

"Yeah. Even a suit which had been worn before so I didn't have to make a clean one dirty with any dust—or whatever else—there," Eden answered dryly.

Reno barked out a laugh as the two other employees shuddered and backed away from the Turks. Both of them looked rather relieved when the two Turks got off on the first of the SOLDIER training floors, making the blond roll his eyes as he followed Reno down the hall to the first of the SOLDIER storage rooms—they were probably thinking the two Turks were going to be eliminating someone. If Eden was wasn't so tired, he may even have found the irony hilarious.

Soon after, the two arrived at the first SOLDIER storage room, and the door opened easily—no locks beyond a plain deadbolt were evident, and during daytime hours, the door was left wide open. A look around the room made Eden sigh, and even Reno gave an impressed whistle at the total disaster area they saw. It was obvious there were several shelves of cases which were clear and labeled for a particular type of Materia, other shelves meant for armored bracers of various sorts, a few bins of mass quantity spare gear probably used by the Cadets and Thirds for practice, and several racks of weapons. A few of the last were more like bins for mass-produced practice spares. One corner also held a rack of potions and a shelf of combat items.

At least, that was what the general organization of the room was _supposed_ to be.

Instead, there were random Materia rolling around on the floor, potions stuck wherever around the room, weapons—good quality ones, as far as Eden could tell—strewn across the floor, one even stuck in the potions rack, and bracers also scattered on the floor or dangling off random weapons. Most of the racked weapons weren't even in the right spots, as someone had just dropped them in the closest one, not the one which fit it. The bins should each have had only one kind of item in them, but instead had a random assortment, and even the labeled Materia boxes showed Materia of other types in them, giving the impression there were probably Fire and Lightning Materia mixed into the Ice Materia box, and so on. There wasn't even room to walk on the floor without stepping on something anymore.

"...Reno, tell Lazard that if he wants to keep this from happening again, he's going to have to enforce on the SOLDIERs that these rooms are actually a privilege they can have taken away from them if they don't start taking care of it..." Eden said tiredly as he knelt to begin separating out the swords and bracers right in front of him.

"I'll do that after yer done, yo," Reno agreed. "Least _our_ storage ain't this bad. I mean, still bad, cause it's got a specific order things're supposed ta go in, but nothin' like this, yo."

"That's bad when I'm actually relieved to hear you say that..." The blond's words made the older Turk laugh. "Where am I supposed to find a place to even just separate the weapons from the armor from the Materia from—whatever other items are scattered around in this mess?"

"Ya could put 'em in the hall 'til you've got space in here, yo," the red haired teen offered. "I'll make sure no one touches 'em 'til you can move 'em."

With another look around the room, Eden gave a small nod and said, "I think I'll have to do that for now, then. Thanks."

He started working at separating things out again, taking a few items to the hall to set in a particular pile several times before he'd cleared enough space to move the piles into the room. Several SOLDIERs had stopped to look in and stare for a few minutes before leaving, all of them looking thoroughly confused. Very early on, Eden had developed a pattern of throwing Materia to the back of the room whenever he found them, so his piles ended up being bracers, weapons, and other items. The last included potions, since a few of those had actually also been mixed into the mess on the floor. In that way, he cleared the floor until he had those three piles, plus a pile of Materia against the back wall, which was also closest to their shelves and boxes.

As he was working on sorting the bracers into some sort of order, he became overwhelmingly tired and sat against the bracers' shelves in exhaustion, pulling his knees up to rest his head on them. For a bit, Reno was quiet, and Eden had almost fallen deeply into sleep before the red haired Turk started talking to him.

At first he had no idea what the other teen was talking _about_ , but he suddenly came wide awake at the question, "Ya ever felt a hot chick cum on ya, yo?" He was completely lost by the question, but Reno apparently didn't expect an answer as he kept talking. "Sweetest thin' ever, yo! An' the head the hotties give, that's ta die for! I'm a lucky bastard, 'cause I've gotten ta sample—oh, gotta be about thirty of the best since gettin' hired on. The chicks dig the 'bad boy' an' the danger, ya know?" When he saw Eden staring at him with wide, horrified eyes and a flushed face, he gave a smirk and leaned in close to the blond to add, "'Course, it ain't gotta just be the chicks, it can be some hot cock, too, yo!"

"Some—what?" Eden gaped.

Reno laughed and pointed to him to say, "Yeah, I'm all for 'free sex', ya know? It means ya get ta pick anyone ya think's hot, an' _you_ qualify in my book, yo. Since ya don't wanna work, how 'bout we _play_ instead?" There was a teasing sort of—Eden guessed it was a leer—on Reno's face as the red haired teen reached a hand out to touch his face.

The action snapped the blond out of whatever shock had taken hold of him, causing him to jump up and back up quickly as he shook his head. "No, thanks! I'm getting back to work if that'll keep you away from me!" He first thought of working on the bracers again, but that would take him within reach of where Reno was now sitting against their shelves, so he turned to the swords—and the few other sample weapons—there to work on instead.

His retreat caused Reno to howl with laughter for several minutes while Eden stubbornly ignored him and worked on the weapons, though he deliberately pelted Reno with the bracers he found dangling off hilts, causing yelps each time. To his irritation, the action only made Reno laugh harder again. By the time the red haired teen had stopped laughing, Eden had established eight piles of swords for the racks, most of the swords had been removed from said racks, and all the bracers mixed in with them had hit Reno and been moved to the pile by the older Turk. He'd also added some still-slotted Materia to the pile against the wall and pulled a few random items out from the racks to add to the items and potions pile, and gotten the sword out of the potions rack.

"Are you done now?" Eden asked irritably after a minute of silence.

"Yeah. You're fun ta tease, though, yo. Total virgin," Reno answered with a soft chuckle.

With an annoyed noise, the blond asked while still working, "Are you saying you made all that up?"

"Nope," Reno said candidly. "You're an attractive guy, yo. 'Cept, I like _willin_ ' partners, an' if you ain't willin', I ain't gonna push it. 'Course, ya didn't know _that_ part back when I was teasin' ya. Teasin' a virgin's always the most fun."

Eden growled and cast Fire on Reno, making him yelp and hurry to pat down his hair to put the fire out. "There's nothing wrong with being a virgin!" he glared at the older Turk.

Reno gave one still-smoking hand an absent wave and said, "Didn't say there was, just said virgins're fun ta tease, yo. Kinda surprised a cute guy like you ain't got a girl yet, though."

"I'm a late bloomer," the younger Turk huffed.

"... _This_ late, yo?" the red haired man asked with a raised brow.

"There's a reason for it!"

"...'Kay, then spill while there ain't anyone else here."

For a minute, Eden kept working quietly before asking, "Did you hear about what happened before I ended up out by Fort Condor and Junon?"

"'Bout yer brother bein' in some kinda isolation tank and you lot fightin' some super-monster, ya mean?"

"Yeah, that."

"What's that gotta do with yer bein' a virgin, yo?" Reno asked with a puzzled frown.

After another minute of work, the blond sighed and said, "The only thing actually keeping my brother's physical body alive was the fact that the process I'd used to put him in the 'isolation tank' tied our souls together. It actually tied more than that together, and anything I took in—nutrients, chemicals, biological changes, or whatever—got split between him and me. Because everything was being split between two bodies, I had a development rate about half what I should have had, hence why I looked 'around thirteen' when Freyra first met me. Then the tie was severed and my body is trying to play catch-up with its own proper development."

While Eden kept working, Reno thought about what he was saying, then shrugged and said, "So yer growth got slowed by 'bout half ta the point where you're only 'discoverin'' chicks now, yo?"

"I don't know that I am. I have better things to do with my time."

That time, Reno gave an irritated huff and got up to move back to his usual position by the door, saying nothing further. The rest of the day proceeded like normal—other than Eden's tiredness—and he spent the rest of the evening and night sleeping. The next day was the same, though without the interlude of teasing and with a move to the next SOLDIER storage room mid-way through the afternoon. Shortly before the end of his assigned work day, Reno told him Winry wanted him to go up to her office to eat supper with her. As such, when Eden was notified it was time, he went to wash up and change, then went to her office rather than the cafeteria.

The door to the room was open, and as he approached, three men and a woman ran from the room and parted ways, obviously in a hurry. When he got to the door and could look inside, he saw her sitting tiredly behind her desk, rubbing her eyes as she muttered something he couldn't hear. Stepping inside, he shut the door loudly enough for her to hear it, then moved over to the desk to wait for her to respond, looking around the room as he did. The only change to it—which was surprising for only two days—was for one corner to now be taken up with two couches on either side of a coffee table, and there was some food laid out on it.

"Reeve really meant it when he said people would come to me if he wasn't available," Winry said with a small sigh.

"Why is that?" he asked in bemusement, having no idea what she was talking about.

"He took your word about my skills so seriously he registered me as his assistant, and 'his assistant' is also second in command of Urban Development. If something happens to him, I'm the one who becomes the head of the department and works directly with the President," she explained, though she finally dropped her hand. "And, well, Reeve isn't here right now, so when one of the Reactors showed signs of a sudden drain for no fathomable reason, _I'm_ the one they turned to for instruction."

"Do you know enough about the Reactors to do that?" he asked in surprise.

She looked up at him with a wry grin and said, "Yes, I do—Reeve gave me a crash course in Reactor technology weeks ago already. I incorporated some of the Reactor technology into your new leg, the one I hope I'll be able to give you before you head out again, but if not, I'll hope I can get it to you between your trip to Wutai and the next leg of your journey. Supper's on the coffee table, by the way. Feel free to sit down and help yourself—I'll join you in a moment."

"So if the leg's not ready yet, why did you need to see me? Or is it just for the company?" he asked curiously, no bad feeling in the words.

"I need to do a few measurements of your port so I can make sure of my accuracy down to thousandths of millimeters. And there was something I wanted to talk with you about because we've both been avoiding it up until now," she answered, turning to the computer on her desk to work on something there.

"Okay," the young man agreed, moving over to the couches and picking one to sit on. Even though he picked his foods, he didn't start eating right away, opting to wait for Winry to join him. Five minutes and a phone call later, Winry joined him there with a sigh, chose her own helping, and both started eating, Ed wondering if he should ask her which issue she wanted to work with first.

She solved the problem by saying, "I had originally thought to talk with you, then get the measurements, but I also hadn't planned on having my new tools already out. Since they are, I'll get the measurements first. Also, if our discussion turns into a sore point for one or both of us, if the measurements are already done, you'll be free to go."

"You're expecting it to?" he blinked. That didn't sound like the Winry he knew.

"Well, I hope it won't," she answered with a wry smile. "You're more mature now, too, so I think it'll work out better than it may have when we were both younger."

"Why'd you add this to your office, by the way?" he asked, motioning at the furniture they sat on. "It wasn't like this two days ago."

"It's easier for me to do my work if I have a place to sleep right here while I'm in the middle of something. The secretaries have already seen me use it last night, and I think it delighted them to see that I actually went to sleep on my own, just by having a place in my workspace to do so," she chuckled.

By then, she'd finished eating, so set her plate aside and got up to grab her new tools from the work bench at the back of the room while Eden finished his own meal. Once he was done, she got him to roll up his pant leg and remove the auto-mail limb so she could measure the ports. To his surprise, it only took the devices she was using about two minutes to be put on, take the measurements, and be removed. While he set himself to rights again, she put them away to work with later, then returned to her place on the couch across from him. He was done rolling his pant leg back down a moment later, so looked up at her with his elbows braced on his knees.

"So, what did we need to discuss?" he asked, though he was nervous about it.

Winry paused, then gave a small sigh and said, "Back home...there was sort of this...expectation all the adults in our lives had about us. Your mom, my parents, Grandma...most of the adults in town. Even though our parents weren't pushing us because they died when we were little kids and Grandma mostly just gave us certain _looks_ , it was sort of expected and assumed we would eventually get married."

For a minute, Eden just gazed at her uncomprehendingly. "Winry...Where are you going with this? I'm really not following."

She gave a small chuckle and said, "Well, that's _one_ part of you which hasn't changed." Her gaze turned thoughtful before she asked, "Did you ever actually think of me as a possible marriage partner?"

"Oh, for—! First Reno and now you!" Ed glared. "Look, I haven't even 'discovered' the opposite sex yet, so the most I could offer you is that I see you like a sister. I care about you, but—if it even could be as anything besides family, I wouldn't even know it. Then again, it's kinda gross if I think about maybe—being like that—with my sister..."

There was a startled silence as Winry gazed at him in surprise, but then she burst out laughing, which made him huff in annoyance. She stopped quickly and gave her head a shake as she said, "I was actually asking because since I've been here—my horizons have been broadened and I've been thinking about that same thing. Could I really see someone who's like a brother to me in 'that' way? If we'd stayed in Amestris, it's possible, if only because my options for possible partners were very small. There are a lot more options here, and this world has an insane number of drop dead gorgeous and intelligent guys. I don't—want to live up to that particular expectation now, so if it doesn't bother you, either, I think we're fine." She smiled at the last, cheeks tinged with red as her gaze moved off into the distance for a moment.

That was the first time Ed had seen her 'gaze dreamily off into space' over a guy instead of an engineering or mechanics tool or creation (well, she'd have been _much_ more enthusiastic in the latter case), making a sudden realization come to him as he gave a sly grin and asked, "Oh, so you were just checking to make sure the coast was clear? So, who's the lucky guy who caught your attention?"

With a small chuckle, she said, "Actually, it's Rufus. Oddly enough, his father seems to approve of me when he's never approved of any of Rufus' other potential partners. I'm not sure what makes me so different..."

"Rufus?" he gaped at her. "That selfish, self-centered _brat_ is the guy you're treating like one of your treasured tools?"

Her expression turned to a vicious glare as she bit out, "Isn't the pot calling the kettle black right now?"

"What?" he blinked in surprise.

"Let me just be clear on something I never understood, Ed," she said, gaze dark, and he knew he wasn't going to like what she was about to say. "My parents died _three years_ before your mother. I was devastated and would have _loved_ to have them back with me. When your mother died, you and Al immediately started working on a way to bring her back because it hurt you so much to lose her. Ed, I _know_ how much it hurts to lose people you care about, but this has been something in the back of my mind for a long time.

" _Why_ did you never even offer to try to bring _my_ parents back, _why_ did you never even start looking into the means to do so until _your_ mother died? Your actions were the ultimate in selfish, because you basically said to me, 'It's okay if _you_ suffer, I don't care about that, I just care about _my own_ suffering, because _I'm_ more important than _you_.' I never said anything before, but can you even _begin_ to imagine how much that realization of your selfishness hurt me?" By then, tears had filled Winry's eyes, but all he could do was stare at her with his mind completely shut down because he couldn't process what she was saying.

He knew what the words meant, but making it into something cohesive right then wasn't working. Part of it was also the shock of what she had kept inside and kept hidden for so long, and he had to wonder why she had never said anything before. The only real reason he could think of was that being displaced to a whole new world was forcing her to reassess her view of the world, just as it had done to him. In the end, he didn't say anything because he couldn't. If he tried, it would either be pointless or hollow and empty, and would widen the gap this wedge had caused between them. When she put it like that, though, he really had no right to say anything against Rufus, because Rufus wasn't so different from him.

As he currently was, Eden had some selfish reasons for doing things, but he also did a lot more to help others than he used to, issues with knowing when and how to help aside. Back before his father had left and his mother had died, when he hadn't been trying to prove himself, he had been—worse than Rufus for essentially ignoring Winry's suffering. Yes, he'd been younger then, but he'd already found some of the data in his father's library about human transmutation related to reviving the dead. Why had he never even thought of doing it for Winry? Only because he hadn't cared about others enough back then, not even friends—or family. Al and Winry were just the start, and it had taken nearly losing Al to the Gate for him to open his eyes to his own selfishness.

"Well?" she asked harshly, the tears still in her eyes.

"...Anything I say won't have any meaning now," he sighed sadly. "I could apologize for hurting you, but I've hurt you so many times—and apologized every time—that it just wouldn't mean anything. You're right. I was selfish then, way more than I probably ever realized, and there's still some of that—a lot of that—in me, even if I've learned to care about others, too. Unless I was you, I can never really know how much that hurt you. All I can do is concede the point and let you work out your own relationships for yourself without giving you a hard time over who you choose."

She stared at him for a long time before reaching up to rub her eyes and say, "If it makes it any easier for you, it's not _only_ Rufus, he's just the one approaching me the most. I've met a lot of guys who have most of the traits I like, and even Genesis and Sephiroth aren't off my radar—if they offered to take me on a date, I'd say yes, and Genesis even stopped by to give me a gift yesterday. Mostly, what I have right now are a lot of crushes, and I want to finish getting established in my new position here before I look more seriously at who I might choose."

Eden's lips quirked a bit before he nodded and said, "I think right now, the thing making it easiest for me is how you just said you're not really looking seriously yet. Work always comes first for you. I'm glad _that_ hasn't changed."

Winry gave a small chuckle and nod. "I don't think that ever will. Well, unless I ever pick a guy to settle down with and have some kids—the kids _will_ come first. Then work, then the guy."

He had to laugh at that and said, "Well, if you ever run into trouble with anyone, you know the Turks will keep you safe, especially the ladies. And me, of course, if I'm here. I'll wish you luck, then. And besides your sudden realization of what 'command' means, how's work?"

"Great!" she grinned suddenly. "I have new toys and tools and—oh, my God, I never realized how useful a _game_ could be! I've been working with Shelke, too—she's super-good with computers, like, can just ask them for information and they give it to her ' _good_ '—and we've figured out a few of the things I need to do with several projects! I even found a personal project to work on, and I got even more time to work on mechanics and listen to the gears and ball-bearings and everything moving~!

As she clearly drifted off into la-la land, Eden chuckled. It was nice to see that she still got so excited over mechanics—and apparently technology, too.

"You were busy, right?" he asked, and she just gave him a Cheshire cat grin. Rising, he said, "I'll leave you to it, then—I need a rest anyway."

"Sure. Thanks, Ed," she told him. "Sleep well."

"You, too, Win," he agreed, heading out. By then, he was so tired he practically fell into his bed almost as soon as he got back to his apartment.


	53. 49-Wutai Again

Wutai Again

Eden had one more day of work followed by a visit with Al and the other Academy kids, then got the notice early the next morning to prepare to leave for Wutai later that day. The Highwind's estimated time of departure was around one in the afternoon, just after the lunch hour, so Eden was relieved of work for the morning.

When the party reassembled on the Highwind (Rufus, Freyra, Kamil, Cissnei, Aeris, Genesis, Roy, Kunzel, Carbuncle, Dark Nation, Stray Hope, Libby, Cait Sith, and him), Genesis immediately found a private cabin and collapsed in sleep. Roy and Kunzel explained how they'd had him and Angeal—all of them, really—going non-stop since the group had returned to Midgar, so the others just let Genesis sleep. Since Kunzel was officially a First as of that day, he wore the black uniform, earning congratulations from most of the group. Then they found out Nanaki and Deneh were actually also on board, but had opted to stay hidden until the Highwind had taken off.

Most of their time in Wutai was going to be meetings and official work, though the Emperor would be willing to work out times for them to take away from work and the City as well. In fact, the first day of their week-long (maybe longer) stay in Wutai was mainly just them initially meeting Godo, then getting settled in their rooms, then the next two days were a string of meetings. Eden would have been much more irritated and bored if he hadn't ended up with running commentary from Cissnei and Freyra during those days, and he instead found he had to struggle not to laugh. Even without an order, Libby started recording the meetings and stored them in her database, but no one was really sure why she had done so.

It was the fourth day when they had some time off, which led to Eden (with Libby holding onto his shoulder) actively taking the time to explore Wutai City while Kamil and Genesis were guarding Rufus. Aeris, Cissnei and Carbuncle went with Nanaki and Deneh to explore, and Rufus, Genesis, Kamil, Dark Nation, Stray Hope, and Cait Sith all spent the time relaxing in the Palace gardens. Freyra, Roy, and Kunzel left the city before dawn, leaving everyone confused, as all any of them had was a text message from the three saying they were going to check something out.

Being on his own for the day gave Eden time to visit the Da Chao Statue and to see what kinds of shops were in Wutai City. The Statue actually surprised him, as most of it was riddled with passageways like a maze which wound both inside and outside the Statue and the cliff it was backed against. By the time he reached the end of the path, he was standing in front of the Statue's head, and wondered what the point was for several minutes. It had been a fun climb (not as fun as the Pinnacle in Cosmo Canyon, but fun nonetheless), so he gave a wry grin and decided to take it as a worthwhile climb. Also, the view of the City from there was impressive. As he was about to leave, though, he noticed a sparkle between the Statue's chin and the edge of the 'hand' sitting palm up against it, the same hand he stood on. Retrieving the sparkling item, Ed found it was a Steal as Well Support Materia, so pocketed it.

From there, he decided to head into town for something to eat before exploring the shops, and was finding most restaurants and shops to be highly traditional. There were, however, some shops which sold some very nice weapons (none he needed, though he picked up daggers Al and Winry would be able to use in dire situations) and Materia. In one such shop, he found a Support Materia called Magic Absorb, which let its wearer recover casting energy by doing damage to an attacker with the linked Materia. That was an automatic purchase meant to be kept.

They really needed more people like Zack, who could Master Materia so quickly and efficiently without suffering for it. He had a feeling Yufi would be one of them, but until she was broken of her bad habits, handing her any Materia was a _very bad_ idea, whether she could Master them quickly or not.

By the time he finished in the shops, it was time for supper, so he went to eat at a different place from the one where he'd had lunch. He'd noticed during the day that many Wutains were at least uncomfortable around him, even though Godo had made a formal announcement to let everyone know they were no longer at war and to expect visitors with the Shinra territory's looks or from Shinra Company directly. People had left him alone, had allowed him to make purchases and similar things, but it felt like things were going to reach a boiling point soon. If he was there when they did, there was a good chance he'd be the one the Wutains lashed out at, because after years of war, the end of it was hard to accept.

As he was scanning the surroundings, though, he happened to notice a 'shady' Wutain slip into an alley, so followed him into it.

"What are you doing, Eden?" Libby asked softly, ears twitching.

"Seeing where that shady guy's going. It gets me off the main street and away from the building tension," Eden answered, so Libby silenced.

The form moved down the alley past a number of buildings until he came to one with a stair leading down several steps, which the shady man took. At the bottom, he opened a door and stepped inside, so the blond Turk moved over to the top of the stair, only to see a door with a rickety, wooden sign nailed into the wall beside it, faded to near illegibility. He couldn't read it because it was in Wutain, but something just told him this place was important—useful. Quietly, he walked down the stairs and slipped the door open sideways (it was just like most Wutain sliding doors) with as little sound as he could manage, slipping inside as soon as it was open enough for him to fit.

Once he'd shut the door and turned to look around, he saw—a shop.

It wasn't a shop for anything in particular, more of a mish-mash of people's used up junk. At least, that was his first assumption, until he saw a sword laying on one shelf which should have been in some noble's armory waiting for use, and Libby made a small ' _ooo_ ' sound. When he first entered, he saw a shelf similar to a bookshelf in front of him, and aisles leading both ways from the door, and he could hear two voices in the back, left corner. As such, he turned right, scanning the shelves until he reached the corner, finding that his first assessment of it being a 'junk' shop was most likely false. Once he was around the corner and walking down the next aisle, he was _sure_ this was more like a Black Market shop for rare or illegal goods, and it was _very_ well-stocked.

Keeping out of sight of the corner where the Wutain voices came from, he went up and down the aisles, seeing some items he knew would be worth his whole paycheck. In one, he found a sword similar to Genesis' Rapier which he thought would work well for Roy, so picked it up. In another, he actually found a gun which had an older pistol look, but which seemed to be internally updated for efficiency, so grabbed it for Rufus. Another had several shelves of rare Materia, but only three of those caught his eye, each of them the only copies set out. They were Aero, Water, and Shapeshift, all Magic Materia in green and with varying spells.

Aero and Water were similar in design to the basic elements with three levels of spells to gain and no prior usage to speak of. Shapeshift, on the other hand, was the single most complex Magic Materia he'd ever encountered, as it had multitudes of rules and formats for use. The degree of data required for it to function was through the roof and caused Eden to go cross-eyed until he'd finished assessing it all. Its first level merely changed a person's appearance (their skin, as it were, and their clothes) to outwardly match, or copy, someone else's. Its second level physically changed the person's gender, and the body's inner workings by default. The third level apparently allowed 'hybridized' forms of humans with many types of animals or monsters. Similarly, the fourth level allowed a person to shapeshift completely into an animal or monster form (1). Both third and fourth level had requirements set which prevented Mastery before they'd been met, but he had no time to assess it all right then.

As far as he could tell, though, the base energy requirements for Mastery, not including the other requirements, would probably take Zack all night or longer.

What was the point of this Materia? Why had Minerva even created it? He'd have understood the illusion copy of the first level and the final transformation wholly to an animal or monster, as both of those had legitimate uses in things like escape or spying, along with other things, like rescue or hunting. The two in between—what were those for? What use did they have?

He took the three and kept looking around, finding another shelf with a small collection of gems on it which he thought were illusion stones. A quick comparison of them to the two he had told him they were indeed what he thought they were, so he pulled out his PHS and moved to a spot where he wasn't likely to be seen as he dialed Tseng's number—it was a little after six in the morning in Midgar.

"What kind of trouble have you gotten into _now_ , Eden?" Tseng asked tiredly, and Eden gave a small chuckle.

"I found what I gather is a Black Market shop, and I know I don't have enough funds to get everything I'd like to get, and some of it's for the Turks or SOLDIER, like a bunch of illusion stones and some very nice weapons. How do you want me to work this?" the blond Turk asked, keeping his voice low.

There was a long silence, then Tseng gave a small chuckle and commented, "Only you, Eden." He paused for a moment, then said, "Start taking photos of everything you've already grabbed which is for someone other than yourself, then start taking pictures of everything in the shop. Give me any lists of things like Materia—we can't tell what those are from looking at them—and I'll let you know if we want it or not."

"...Okay, here's another question. How will I carry it all?"

"You have Mini, don't you?"

"Yeah...Can that affect an inanimate object?"

"It can, it's just harder to target an object."

"And getting it all back to you?"

"Ask Godo for some shipping crates and have him send them with his next shipment of goods which passes through Midgar before going to Icicle Inn. Those will be marked for delivery in Midgar, so it won't even be out of their way."

"Okay, then. Prepare for a mass data download."

"Don't worry, I have."

With that, Eden took photos of the weapons he'd already picked up, both with a note saying they were for Roy and Rufus, then the illusion stones. He then began going to all the other shelves and snapping photos of the other items on them, none of those having an additional note until a closer look at one shelf revealed some engineering tools, and he knew two of those definitely would go to Winry while Reeve may want the rest. By the time he was done taking all the photos, Tseng was sending him back data on which things 'Shinra Company' wanted.

For the first time, Eden went to the shopkeeper—the other man he'd followed in there had left by then—and said, as the middle-aged man stared with shock and hostility, "I'm prepared to spend a ton of money here as long as you're willing to sell. Since you work the Black Market, we can work this two ways. Either you make the sales and get your money while I keep your cover, or I bring the Emperor in here. Frankly, I'd rather the first option."

The man glared at him suspiciously for a minute, then said slowly, obviously taking his time to carefully choose his words, "I have sold to people outside Wutai before. Never to Shin-Ra workers, especially not Turks. How did you find this place?"

"Your last customer looked suspicious, so I followed him and found this," the blond Turk replied evenly, gaze faintly amused. "But we aren't enemies anymore, and these things won't be used against your people. Turks also get a lot of money, and I haven't used much of mine since I started with them, so I have a lot to spend—more because I'm helping people gather gifts for friends or family, so they're going to add to my available funds." It was close enough to the truth, anyway, no matter how he looked at it, because apparently Tseng, Lazard, and now Reeve, were all choosing very specific items to give to very specific people they knew.

"...How much, and what, are you buying?" the shopkeeper asked, still wary but now curious as well.

"Uh...funds permitting, about a quarter of your shop. Quite a few of the items are gathering dust, so they've obviously been here awhile. I expect a discount on those. Does this mean you'll sell to me?" Eden asked, gaze amused.

After a silence, the man sighed faintly and said, "Show me the items so we may collect them."

Eden led him around the shop to gather items off the shelves, returning everything to the counter at the front until there was almost no room left there anymore. About eighty percent of it had been gathering dust, so the shopkeeper started checking his records and they could haggle a price. When Eden sent the total to Tseng, there was about a five minute wait before he got word to use his card to make the total purchase. At first, the shopkeeper was a bit skeptical about the Turk being able to afford such a large purchase, causing him to gape in shock when it went through. The blond began packing everything into crates so he could sort it later, starting with the smaller items.

Using Mini, Eden was able to shrink everything so it fit in two fair-sized boxes which could then be put in bags for him to carry, but the weight of them was abhorrent until he thought to use Float on the boxes. The shopkeeper just stood there in amazement, shaking his head as a very happy Eden left the shop with his purchases. At that point, the seventeen-year-old Turk thought it best to head back to the Palace, though he did it through back routes and came up at the side door he, Inagi, and Felicia had used many days the last time he'd been in Wutai. The guards there recognized him and were familiar enough with him to simply allow him to enter the Palace.

Once back in the main room of the suite the traveling party had been assigned (it was a much different format than he and Felicia had previously used, more like a very large apartment than like hotel rooms), he sent a servant to get Godo for him if the man had time. While he waited, he opened the boxes and began taking everything out of them so he could enlarge it all and sort it out for what he needed to do with it while Libby hid under the table to 'sleep'. The literal gifts, like the ones for Winry and Al—since he included the earlier purchases in his packing of the crates—he gift-wrapped, then set them with the things to go to Midgar.

As he was separating out the items for his traveling companions, there was a knock on the door, so he called, "Enter!"

The door opened to reveal Emperor Godo, who halted just inside to gaze at the mess in surprise, his brows rising into his hairline. "Should I ask?" the older man questioned after a pause, shutting the door behind him.

"I found a very interesting shop. Apparently, Tseng, Lazard, and Reeve agreed with me," Eden replied. "I need crates to put most of this in to send it to Midgar with the next shipment of supplies you're supposed to send to Icicle Inn through there. If you don't have the time, can you send me someone who can help me sort that out?"

"...You realize most of these goods have been missing for over a century, don't you?" Godo asked in mild amusement.

"Is there anything in particular you feel you _must_ keep?" the blond asked. "Oh, speaking of which, there _was_ something I found which I thought you might like." He had put the item in question in his bag with another one similar to it (one he planned to give to Tseng) and the Materia he'd bought, so he quickly retrieved the two from there.

Both were gorgeous statuettes, clearly in a Wutain design and with such fine detail and highlights in gems, one in pale gold and one in red gold. The pale one depicted Leviathan and was accented with sapphire, emerald, jade, and aquamarine gems, and the red one depicted a tiger with ruby, obsidian, tiger's eye, and citrine gems. He showed both to the Emperor, and at the man's stunned expression, he offered the Leviathan one to him. The man took it reverently, handling it with the gentlest care as he turned it around and around to examine it.

"Still in perfect condition after so long..." the man murmured, then looked up at Eden. "Why are you only passing this one on to me? Were there any others like this in the shop?"

"These were the only ones I found, and I'm giving the tiger to Tseng," the younger man answered, gaze amused, but also a little uncertain. He blinked in mild surprise when Godo chuckled.

"Eden, Tseng _is_ the tiger. If that one's owner is intended to be him, then it will be where it was always _meant_ to be. This one—has finally found its way home, so I thank you. How is Yufi doing?" the man asked as he sat near where Eden was working.

"She was fine the last time I saw her. The President took her as a good-will gesture from you and allocated a residence and guard to her—normally, Illis of the Turks fills the role. Yufi decided to go to school at the Shinra Academy, and while she gets some of the comforts and powers she had here, she doesn't get nearly so many. Apparently, she's getting rather attached to the Turks, too, and it wouldn't surprise me if she eventually decided to apply to us. She's made friends with some of the kids we've got at the Academy, too, and is learning to—not commit crimes," the teen answered, sounding amused.

Godo's lips twitched slightly before he sighed and said, "Thank you for making every effort to correct my oversights. After her mother died, I was at a loss as to how to handle her, and with the war...it was so much easier to focus on the latter. Her theft of those boys' gil has resulted in her losing her allowance until the amount has been paid off, and after hearing of the parents' situation, I have given them a loan to set up their shop for the community." The words made Eden grin. "What else did you find at that shop of yours?"

"Some random stuff, and a really strange Materia. Have you ever heard of one called 'Shapeshift'?"

"I have," the Emperor agreed as he blinked at the younger man in shock. "We have one here, though no one in particular owns it. The functions it operates by are highly unusual, and our records of said functions are fairly detailed, given how only three—well, four now—are known to exist. Why?"

"Can you tell me how it works and what the purpose of the second and third levels are, since they don't seen to—have a purpose?" Eden asked eagerly.

"...Eden, the Shapeshift Materia is quite literally changing your body structure, and you only return to your actual human form either if you will it or you have been dead for longer than Revive would be capable of reviving you. If you were to suddenly cause yourself to become some other being, what do you suppose would happen to your body?"

For a few long moments, the blond just sat there with a puzzled frown as he thought about the question, then blinked in surprise as an image of Nina as a chimera flashed through his mind. He said tentatively, "A sudden shift from one form to another is normally excruciatingly painful, and most who are subjected to such a thing, especially as an adult, don't survive. What does that have to do with the spells on Shapeshift?"

"The first, Copy Skin, changes your skin and possibly adjusts your height, which are fairly minor modifications to your body. Often, using it on yourself a minimum of three times is sufficient for the body to adapt to those changes. The second, Switch, changes your gender, which keeps you as the same species, but changes your height, features, and bone structure to suit the differences between a male body and a female body. While a few exemplary individuals require six transformations to adapt without pain or discomfort, most require—far more, due to chemical and emotional differences between the genders.

"The third, Hybrid, begins to modify the body for animal shapeshifting, by adding tails, fur, scales, claws, wings, and other features humans would not normally have. Those normally require approximately six transformations under each of several 'categories' to adapt to. Finally, the fourth, Shapeshift, allows a complete animal transformation, and has a plethora of requirements to meet before allowing Mastery, and those must take place in stages. Without the first three spells and their adaptation requirements, the body would be torn apart by the fourth."

"So...the whole system is designed to adapt the body...and it assesses how easily we're able to take one type of transformation before allowing us the next?"

"Correct."

"Then why are the Hybrid and Shapeshift spells so complex?"

"The range of the Materia allows for mammal, bird, and reptile transformations, ranging from flight-capable to serpentine to mixed form animals and monsters. Each has different basic requirements in general categories, and as individual entities. In the Hybrid state, you learn to adapt to such things as having a tail, or having leathery wings, which function differently from a bird's wings, and to adapt to having hollow bones or being cold-blooded rather than warm. When completely Shapeshifted, you need to adapt to whatever creature you chose to become, large, medium, or small, and are only able to use the more extreme transformations after mastering average sized forms first. After all, becoming a snake is very different from becoming a lizard, which is different from a Chocobo which is different from a monkey which is different from a Griffin. You must learn each and every one independently before Shapeshift will Master."

"Holy..." Eden muttered, pulling out the Materia in question to stare at it. "Then, there's a good chance this will never be able to be combined with other Materia..."

"Combined with other Materia?" Godo asked curiously.

"I have a project ongoing which would allow many Materia to be combined into one shard. This is so complex and takes so much data that there's a good chance it fills its whole available space, so couldn't be merged with anything else. I've only encountered one other Materia I'd say that of," the blond Turk replied, shaking his head. "So this Shapeshift Materia makes you put a massive amount of energy onto it as well as meeting increasingly demanding requirements before it'll Master...And this is based only on using it on yourself, yes?"

At Godo's affirmation, the younger man went on absently, "So you could use it on others and it wouldn't help it Master, so its advancement depends solely on your own work towards it. That means it's not the sort of Materia which can be handed around easily. The benefit I noted in the arrays before was that it's variable with the Hybrid stage, allowing variants of appearance and feature changes, but it retains your own coloring...Maybe that's where 'Change' comes in, as those affect solely coloring, and seems to operate on the principles of permanency which alchemy operates on, regardless of sub-arrays..."

"Shall I send for servants to crate and deliver the items you wish to send to Midgar?" Godo asked in amusement, cutting into the Turk's rather intriguing musing.

Eden blinked, then looked up at him in mild surprise for a moment before saying, "Sure. I just have to finish separating out the items staying in the hands of people here. Sorry for taking up so much of your time, Emperor Godo."

"It is no trouble. This was a pleasant diversion from my paperwork." The man pushed himself to his feet and added, "Thank you again for your help with Yufi. The servants should arrive shortly, and I would suggest you keep your Shapeshift Materia hidden while in Wutai." (2)

"Okay, thanks," Eden agreed, tucking it back into his bag and going back to his sorting.

 **Notes (sorry this is a long note, but it's actually kind of important, the first two paragraphs, at least):**

(1) This was sparked by something in Before Crisis, where Fuhito had made 3 male Ravens (all of the Ravens were male as far as I can tell, even if some of the AVALANCHE members could have been female) into exact copies of himself, Shears, and Felicia. He had used 'a transformative Materia' in order to do that, and the illusion held for a certain amount of time afterward the three were killed by 'the player Turk'. One of the Ravens (still all male) later transforms into a copy of 'the player Turk', male or female. Stages 1 and 2 of Shapeshift explain that peculiarity, but once I began developing this Materia, I also realized there would have been a very valid reason for Minerva to have created it for the Cetra after Jenova's arrival on the Planet.

The Cetra were being assaulted by Jenova and her monsters, and their numbers were dwindling. Far too often, they weren't able to fight their way out of danger or were trapped in some situation they couldn't get out of as they were. However, if they were fully able to transform into some sort of monster or animal, they would be able to bypass anything attacking them without the attacker realizing it. This could have been by being a similar type and being taken as 'one of' their attackers, or it could have been because they turned into, say, a bird or a mouse to escape from the attackers entirely.

As such, this built itself into a doozy of a monster Materia, and Fuhito only ever got around to using the first two spells because he wasn't trying to advance the Materia (that would have taken transforming himself, and he doesn't strike me as the type to want to bother, especially not if that would mean becoming female), which means he has one of the 3 the Emperor had been aware of. Obviously, the Emperor has one. Anyone want to guess who has the third, since we know Eden is now the proud owner of the fourth? :D

How much this will apply to the story in the future—we'll have to see, but within this story, I don't see it being a major player, other than maybe for some funny scenes (Reno walking in on a literally female Eden would be a hoot, for example) if anyone wants to see some or I think they play into character development. If anyone has offers or suggestions of something they might like to see, mention it and I'll see if there's a way or place it might fit, since we all know Ed WILL develop this Materia to its max.

(2) Yes, Godo is letting Eden walk away with a large number of weapons and other items known to be stolen Wutain national treasures. His reasons?

1) Most of the items vanished so long ago no one really expects them back anymore.

2) Eden brought back a national treasure for Godo, and a second one which always belonged to Tseng's family for Tseng.

3) Eden and the Turks are taking care of Yufi for him better than he could have ever imagined.

4) He likes and respects Eden in particular, and since Eden happened to be lucky enough to find all those items, he's willing to let Eden take them.

5) With the war over, Godo knows those weapons/items are going to allies who will be working with him to protect his people, which now include the people in Icicle Inn and Costa del Sol for sure.

Of course, the shop Eden found wouldn't be there anymore if he or someone else went back to look, so this was a one-shot deal and just reminded everyone of Eden's 'God-like' degree of luck thanks to Minerva. Believe me, Eden REALLY WANTED to find the God-damned Black Market and pretty much clean it out of anything of real value—the chapter didn't want to be written any other way.


	54. 50-Upgrades

Upgrades

Everyone began returning to the apartment Emperor Godo had allocated to Rufus and his party around nine that evening, and all but one of the boxes had been taken away by then. The last crate would be joining the others as soon as Freyra, Roy, and Kunzel had gotten back for Freyra and the men to have a look at some items, though it pretty much went without saying that Rufus, Genesis, Kamil, and the 'animals' with them would be back first. In the meantime, Eden had laid everything out for the group there at the moment, all in some sort of order so he could find things quickly and easily.

Much like Godo had done, Rufus, Genesis, and Kamil opened the door, stepped inside, and pulled up short to stare at the mess. With an irritated glare, Rufus asked, "So what's all this, then?"

"Gifts from the Wutain Black Market," Eden answered wryly.

The older blond held a hand to his head tiredly as Genesis laughed and quoted, " _Infinite in mystery is the gift of the Goddess_!" The words caused Kamil to give a sigh and an amused shake of the head, but Genesis was already going on, "So, who are the gifts for, exactly? Are there any for me?"

Eden snorted and asked, "Haven't I already given you enough powerful toys, Genesis?"

"Of course you have. I sure won't turn down more of them, though," the red haired man grinned cheerfully.

"Sorry, none for you in this batch," the blond Turk answered. "This box—and others already packed and waiting for shipping—are bound for Midgar, so people like Al, Winry, and Anthony—and a whole host of others—can make use of them. This one hasn't gone yet because some of the things laid out are for people here, but they're going to have to choose what they want and anything they don't choose will join the shipment to Midgar. For example, there are three swords Roy and Kunzel may like, so once they've chosen the one they want, the last will be packed up to go."

"And those stones?" Kamil asked, noting the pile up against Libby's belly where she still 'slept' under the table, though much closer to the edge now.

"Tseng said Freyra has first dibs on those, also to allocate them to the people who will get the most use out of them," Eden shrugged. "I'm not actually surprised, since she seems to know a lot about illusion stones, like the ones I have in my sword."

Rufus moved over to scan the items laid out on the floor, then looked at Eden with a raised brow to ask, "Did you want to wait for the others to return before handing items off, or are you planning to hand them out as their destined users arrive?"

In response, Eden picked up the pistol he'd found for Rufus and offered it to him, hilt-first. "That one's yours," the Turk said, then moved the sophisticated shotgun also sitting on the floor closer to Libby. All the other guns (only three, two of those a pair) were bound for Midgar.

"This one? Not some other one?" Rufus asked with a small frown, taking the rather old-fashioned pistol. He liked the design, but it was more of a showpiece in his mind.

"Have a look at its guts. You'll like it," Eden told him with a smirk. "Anyway, the shotgun's for Freyra, and Wutai has a very limited supply of guns—only the military gun-lances have rifle capabilities, and they otherwise don't use them much. The other three were better-suited to people in Midgar. And Kamil, there are those two pairs of daggers there for you to have a look at—you're welcome to keep either of them if you like one."

Kamil looked over at where the other Turk had pointed to see the two sets Eden meant, and moved over to them to pick them up to examine them curiously, even as Rufus began pulling the pistol apart. While both of them were working on their own weapons (or potential weapons), Genesis gave them amused looks before going over to one of the cushioned seats which had a back leaning against the wall so he could sit. Once he was settled, he pulled out a book to read.

Soon after, just as Kamil decided which pair of daggers he wanted to keep and was handing both his old pair and the one he'd decided not to keep to Eden, the door opened again to admit Freyra, Roy, and Kunzel. All three looked flushed and their eyes were shining with excitement as they tried to smooth their mussed, dirty clothing. They also had a smell clinging to them which was distinctive of Chocobos, meaning they had probably been out riding.

"What's all this?" Kunzel asked curiously, hesitating a moment before slipping his helmet off to shake out his hair and rub under the bottom rim, dislodging several bits of leaves and grasses. He was then about to put it back on when Eden seized one of the blades laying on the floor and used it to whack the helmet out of Kunzel's hands, causing him to yelp, "Hey!"

"Straw's cheaper," the Turk replied with a feral grin. "And leave that bloody thing off. We're all friends and allies here, no one's questioning that."

Everyone gaped at him for a moment before Freyra chuckled and faced Kunzel to look him over appraisingly. He blushed faintly and turned to head for where his helmet had fallen, only for the woman to catch his arm and sidle up against him as she commented, "If I'd known you were so gorgeous under that helmet, I'd've been first in line to ask you for a date—or for several of them." Her gaze was full of sleepy amusement as she added, "And I'll gladly make it worth your while if you keep it off when we aren't on the march from now on."

Kunzel flushed bright red as Genesis chuckled, Kamil and Roy fought amused smiles, and Rufus smirked at the new SOLDIER First. "It's not nice of you to tease about things like that, Freyra," Kunzel told her, keeping his voice even despite the color in his cheeks.

Her brow rose and she replied, "I'm not teasing." To prove the point, she lifted her heels just enough that she could kiss him on the lips. It was a surprisingly chaste kiss—then again, they had several others watching—but Kunzel still had to relent and put his arms around her waist to kiss her back.

When they broke the kiss, Freyra looking very pleased and Kunzel still blushing hotly, the younger man drew in a deep breath and said, "If you're serious, we can give a relationship a try—just to give you fair warning, though, I'm not fond of my partner having multiple partners. I'm not going to be sleeping around, either. Well, unless we find this isn't going to work." (1)

The lady Turk grinned and told him, "In that regard, we're on the same page. If that's all settled—that means I expect you to leave your helmet off in relaxed settings. Like now."

Sighing deeply, Kunzel agreed, "Fine." She grinned and gave him another quick kiss before turning to scan the items laid out on the floor, Kunzel following her gaze.

"Are you done now?" Eden asked dryly.

"Yup!" Freyra chirped. "So, what's with the mess?"

"Gifts from the Wutain Black Market," Eden told them, then pointed to the stones Libby was 'holding'. "Those are illusion stones, and Tseng said you get first dibs on them. He also said he needs you to allocate them to the people who would be best to use them, since apparently you know a fair bit about them. The shotgun there is also for you if you want it, and if not, it'll be added to this crate to join the stuff bound for Midgar. Bastard, Kunzel, those three swords over there are yours to pick which ones you'd like, but the one with the red on the blade I originally picked for Mustang. The last one will go back to Midgar." At the last sentence, Eden pointed to the three blades similar in size and weight to Rapier which were sitting nearest the crate.

"Uh, how will we afford this?" Kunzel asked warily as Freyra moved over to look at the shotgun first.

"You don't have to. Lazard covered the cost of it because he knows you'll make it back in work," the blond Turk answered absently, gaze on Freyra.

"Lazard paid for this?" the Lady Turk asked in confusion.

"No, he paid for the items meant for the SOLDIERs, Tseng paid for the ones meant for the Turks, and Reeve covered everything else," Eden told her, gaze completely amused. "Tseng is assuming the illusion stones are staying in the Turks because SOLDIER weapons are too heavy for them, so he covered those. I paid for a few things out of my own pocket, too, but those are gifts I already gift-wrapped for people in Midgar."

"Ooohh," Freyra murmured, then chuckled. "Okay, then. The shotgun's good, but I'll have to take a closer look at it later. I'll start going through the stones now so we at least know if we're keeping them here or not." She set the shotgun on the table, then sat cross-legged by Libby and the stones to start sorting through them. "At a glance, there are only three stone colors missing from this set, and some of these are—variants of the known ones."

"Variants?" Genesis asked curiously, eyes on Roy as he tested the sword with red on the blade and gave it an impressed look before offering it to Kunzel to test.

"Like, there are three green ones, but one is a much darker green than the standard color of the other two," she explained. "They all do the same thing, but illusion stones need to be used in pairs, normally meaning two of the same kind to be effective. Dark or pale variants of a color mean they can be paired with another color entirely, which creates combined effects. Like, there's that one pale blue one, so it could be combined with the dark green one. Green represents plants and growth, and tends to create things like poison pollens or sudden plant growth while blue represents a state of clarity, like that _zone_ skilled warriors end up in, but not just battle-related, so you'll do things like notice someone is lying to you. Combining them will let you know exactly what effect to use and how, rather than having to guess or let them do their own thing. With how few we have, I can see why we'd want them to go to people who can use them."

"So what do the other colors do?" Rufus asked curiously as he watched her sort through them. Kunzel handed the sword with red on the blade back to Roy, who had tested the other two swords in the meantime.

"I have to admit you chose a good blade for me, Eden. How?" Roy suddenly cut in once Kunzel had indicated he just didn't want that one.

"You'll have to thank Minerva for that," the blond Turk replied dryly. "She seems to like putting things in my path, things like those." He looked back at Freyra and asked, "So, about the stone abilities?"

Freyra had separated some out from the set by then, including the dark green one and a golden yellow one. "Well, I told you green, and yellow is aura healing, or the healing of energy and emotions. Combining them creates many levels of healing by combining it with...I guess they'd essentially be herbal remedies. This is one of the best combinations we've got of the ones here. There's only one person I can think of who would make good use of this combination—Aeris."

As she'd been saying the last couple of words, the door had opened, and as soon as she'd finished speaking, the young woman in question asked, "What about me?" The others looked up to see her, Cissnei, Nanaki, Deneh, and Carbuncle in the doorway that time. They stepped inside, closing the door behind them, as Aeris peered curiously around the room.

With a small sigh, Freyra looked at Eden to ask, "Did he say anything about what I should do if I want to give them to someone who's not a Turk? Because I really mean it when I say Aeris is the best one to use the yellow and green combination."

"Will they work in a staff?" Eden asked curiously.

"If it's mostly wood, yes," Freyra agreed.

"Because of who she is, I'm pretty sure Tseng will overlook it. Especially because you've assessed what they do and determined those as best with her," the younger Turk told her. "He left their allocation in your hands, but if you're so worried about it, you should just _ask_ him. Before you do that, what else is here?"

The pale brown haired Lady Turk blinked and gave a small smile before saying, "There's an automatic pair for plants and for clarity, and with the remaining ones, our two remaining best pairs are the red with brown and the blue with white. Red is empathy, brown is taming, and white is time manipulation. Actually, the blue and white one can be scary in the hands of someone who knows how to use them, but I'd have to say Tseng himself is probably the best one to get them of those who would need them." She was silent for a minute before going on, "I'd actually give Winry the clarity combo—the two blues. Reeve is very trusting, so if she had those and could tell who was lying, there'd be less chance of someone up to no good infiltrating their department, but it would be really suspicious if Reeve's behavior suddenly changed."

"That's a good point," Cissnei agreed. "So exactly what are those?"

"Illusion stones," Freyra answered dryly. She then sighed and gave her head a shake. "Rude is the one—besides Tseng—who would get the most use out of red and brown, with empathy for all living things and a corresponding ability to tame them, even if it's a milder effect than taming if that was all it was." She paused again, thinking hard about the last one with her brow furrowed in puzzlement. "The only use anyone—other than garderners, usually—would get out of the two greens would be the poison pollens. Reno's probably the best one to use it, and the only one who wouldn't get his knickers in a knot over 'artificial enhancements'—he'd milk their effects for all they were worth, and he's a close combat fighter, so he'd get more use out of it than someone like Ruluf or Emma. That's what I think it'll come out to."

"I'm surprised you aren't taking a pair yourself," Rufus commented as he eyed the sets of stones she'd laid out on the table as she'd explained.

"I'd only take a combo with orange—just orange or it paired with another color," she answered with a shrug. "Personal preference."

"And what are the other colors?" Kunzel asked as he held up one of the other blades, one which had something similar to birds' wings on the guard. "This is the sword I want, by the way. Should we send our originals back?"

"Yes," Eden agreed. "I'm curious about the other colors, too. I know purple is weather-related, since I have a pair of those on my sword. That leaves orange and two others."

"Gray and black," Freyra filled in, looking amused. "Orange is 'true-sight', which means illusions of any sort have no effect on you and targeting is almost impossible to screw up. Gray manipulates density of the user, weapon, and anything touching the person, assuming you can gain so much control of it. Most things you have to _try_ to change the density of, though. Black allows for energy severing—shutting down spells, cutting off power supplies, negating a lightning bolt, and so on. Trust me, some of those things in combinations can create an ability which looks almost deity-like if you don't know what you're up against. Clarity and time is only one of those. White is one of the rarest illusion stones to show up, along with gray and black. Orange, red, and purple are in the category of medium rarity, and green, blue, brown, and yellow are the most likely to show up. By illusion stone standards, this set of ten is a windfall."

"So what else is new? I mean, this _is_ Eden we're talking about, here," Cissnei commented dryly, causing chuckles from Genesis and Freyra as Eden made a face.

"On another topic entirely, where did the three of you go to cause you to come back here a mess?" Kamil asked curiously of Freyra, Kunzel, and Roy.

"To the Materia Mine, of course!" Freyra grinned. "Roy has the Materia we got, but I'm pretty sure it's another one we have no prior record of."

"The Materia Mine?" several voices asked in surprise.

"Yeah, of course," Kunzel replied dryly. "A lot of Wutains actually have green Chocobos to get over the mountains. We rented a few, went out to the cave, found there was no more there than in the one north of Corel, and headed back with the one Summon Materia we _did_ find. It was no more difficult than that, but the Chocobos were irritable and took us through the densest growth on purpose. It was more like riding acrobatics lessons, honestly."

The words produced chuckles before Eden looked at Roy to ask, "A new Summon?"

In response, the man drew the Materia in question and threw it to the blond Turk, who examined it closely in puzzlement before musing, "Atomos has a gravity-based power, which wouldn't be unusual by the standards of the Planet—because the Gravity Materia is a fixture here. But you're right, this is a completely new Materia, a Summon we've never seen before. I wonder why it showed up here and now?"

"It had to've been forming in the cave for quite awhile," Genesis commented. "As in, a few years. Materia don't form quickly—even basics like Fire, Ice, and Lightning still take around eight months to form when they do it naturally. Reactors speed up the process to about a month, but those are also sub-standard quality, and while we can use them just as well, they have discrepancies, especially in reliability. A Summon, even the—weakest of them—would have needed at least three years to form, even in a Reactor core. I guess if Minerva directly intervened, they could form faster, though."

"I see. I guess it's true, then, that people miss things they aren't looking for," Eden shrugged. He then held the red orb up as he looked at Roy to ask, "So, do you want it back, or should I keep it?"

"You can keep it," Roy shrugged. "I tried slotting it, but it just feels—slimy and heavy when I do. Genesis let me test one of his, an Ifrit, and I had no problem with that one, so it may just be that I have certain affinities you don't have."

"Sure thing, and that's got potential," Eden agreed, tucking it away. "So did you three collect the Enemy Skills while you were out?"

"No, we still have to do that with you," Freyra grinned. "In other words, on our next day off from meetings. One of the monsters we have to find is in the grasslands, and one's on the beach, so they shouldn't be hard to find. We could make a day of it, like a picnic or something, or we could go do that, then return here to do whatever from there."

"The Razor Weed's Skill will be the harder of them to get, though, because it only hits one person at a time. Manipulate could make it a lot easier since it'll let us choose who we're going to have it hit with its ability," Kunzel explained.

"We'll deal with that on our next day off, then," Rufus cut in. "Now, have all the gifts been allocated, and if not, who else is getting something?"

Eden sighed, then picked up three odd, clip-like devices with sharp edges and threw them to the ground at Deneh and Nanaki's feet. "You two can pick whichever you'd like of those, but your originals don't have to go to Shinra if you don't want them to." They nodded, so he picked up the last item, a staff made of a dark, rich, brown wood and offered it to Aeris. "If you want that, we'll have to get the blacksmith Shinra uses to add some fixtures to it for the illusion stones, but otherwise, you could start using it right away."

Aeris blinked and took the staff, testing the weight and heft of it as Nanaki and Deneh similarly tested the clips the blond had given them. After a minute, the brown haired girl said, "It's better than my current one, and if the monsters are going to keep getting harder to fight, this will help against them. What should I do with my old staff?"

"That's up to you, I would think," Eden shrugged.

"I don't want any of the clips you gave us," Nanaki said suddenly, making the others look at him. "They're good quality, I have no issue with that, but my—the one Grandpa gave me, which had been used by my father, is better. And it has sentimental value, if nothing else. Thank you for the thought, though."

"That's fine," Eden agreed. "As long as you're happy with what you have."

Right then, Deneh did an interesting trick to get one of the clips into her hair in place of the one she had been wearing, then put her own in the small pack she'd taken to keeping on her. "This one is good for me. You can take the other two and send them off," she said as she pushed the two she hadn't chosen back towards the blond Turk. "It's much better than I had, so thank you! It'll definitely make fighting easier from here on out."

"Great," the Turk grinned, grabbing them and putting them in the box. "Does that mean everyone's done now?" A chorus of agreement came from the others, so he finished up by showing the group some items to do things like protect status or give extra shielding from elements. Once they'd all chosen what they wanted of those, he finished packing up the box, then went to get a servant to seal it and make sure it joined the shipment to Midgar.


	55. 51-First Trigger

**A/N:** Keep in mind that this is happening later the same day Eden found the Wutain Black Market—and Midgar and Wutai City are exactly 12 hours apart, with Wutai being ahead by that much. Eden called Tseng around 6AM Midgar time, and all of this is happening after that time.

First Trigger

It was afternoon three days after Rufus and his traveling party had left Midgar, and Al was with Evan, Yufi, Shelke, Mei, and Illis as they walked through the Shinra building's lobby, intent on heading home. Well, Evan was going to Al's apartment with him because they were going to do more alchemy lessons that day, but the others were all going to head for home. With Evan having fallen under Shinra's care because his mother hadn't tried to ask for him to be returned to her (though she _had_ spoken with him to make sure he had certain information), his room was one of the student rooms in the Shinra building. As he put it, though, it was _a lot_ more interesting at Al's, especially with all the plants and the two kittens.

However, before they'd gotten far from the elevator they'd left, a voice near them said, "So you're the subject in question, one Alphonse Elric." The group turned to face the speaker, only to see a Wutain man who looked like he was in maybe his forties, with long, black hair in a ponytail, glasses, and an over-all creepy expression made worse by the fact that he wore a doctor's coat. There was something like a half-smirk on his thin lips as he gazed with eerie intensity at Al.

"Can we help you with something, Professor Hojo?" Illis asked cordially before any of the kids could say anything. All the kids gave startled blinks, but Al was the only one who didn't look sharply at the Lady Turk, keeping his gaze on Hojo warily.

"Ah, you're wary of me. Heard stories about me from someone?" Hojo asked, gaze still focused on Al, making it clear he was talking to the blond. When Al didn't answer, he commented, "I'd never have thought a blond haired, blue-eyed young man would have such genes. Well, come along with me, then."

"If I refuse?" Al asked, brow furrowed slightly.

"That's not an option," Hojo replied. Al glared, but Hojo's gaze then went to Shelke as he said, "Oh, and the SND subject, Shelke Rui. You are to come along as well. Your abilities are a great question we need answers to, after all."

Shelke paled and backed up, causing both Yufi and Mei to move in front of her as Yufi declared boldly, "They aren't going with you! Ever!"

"You don't have the right to refuse me. The moment you signed an agreement with Shinra, you also signed your lives away to us to do with as we will, and I've chosen you both as experimental subjects. You should be honored to be able to advance the knowledge and capabilities of science, after all," Hojo answered with clear amusement. His gaze then hardened as he said sharply, "Now come along, before I call for support from SOLDIER and the Infantry."

"I have classes and I'd rather not miss them for who knows how long, not for anything," Al answered. "Shelke as well. And I don't recall any terms in anything I signed for the Academy which stated I became a slave for you to just take and experiment on at your will—I _read_ the contract for my student terms. No one currently owns me, least of all _you_."

A scowl darkened the man's face, but before he could say anything further, a new voice put in coldly, "The young man is correct. I must insist you leave the Academy students alone." A look in the speaker's direction showed Sephiroth as he gazed with cold eyes at Hojo from where he stood after exiting the other elevator not long before.

Hojo faced him and asked darkly, "And you think you have either the right or the power to intervene, Sephiroth?"

"I do," Sephiroth agreed evenly, not intimidated.

A long silence fell before the man said, "I suppose we shall see how long your defiance lasts for, my creation. After all, you're overdue for a meeting with me. We should get it done now." He started to turn towards the elevators.

"I refuse," the silver haired General stated flatly.

Hojo froze, then turned to gaze at him with barely contained fury. "You believe you have that right? Unlike the male Cetra, you _are_ the property of Shinra, _and_ my personal property, and you have _no right_ to refuse me. You _will_ come with me for your testing, and you _will_ do it now."

"I refuse," Sephiroth answered, gaze turning faintly amused. "First, not only do you _not_ have the power to force me to do so, but my contract terms _do not_ allow you to torture me for the sake of torturing me. As such, you have broken the terms of the contract on more than one occasion, making any requirement I may have had to uphold it irrelevant and unnecessary. In short, _I have no contract with you_ , only with President Shinra, and he has better uses for me than to submit me to _your_ sadistic tendencies."

There was a long silence before Hojo gave a malicious smile and said, "So I was correct. Pity. I shall return to my _other_ experiments, then. For now." He then turned and walked back to the elevator, shoulders hunched as he gave an extremely creepy chuckle.

Once he was gone, the others all blew out sighs of relief and Al looked at Sephiroth to say, "Thank you for that."

The silver haired man gave him a nod, then looked down at Shelke as she tugged on his sleeve, tears in her eyes. "I don't want him to hurt me!" she pleaded.

He rested a hand on her head and replied, "We have no intention of allowing him to do so, Shelke. You are safe." In response, she wrapped her arms around his waist to hug him tightly, crying softly into his belly, so he obediently put his arms around her to comfort her. As much as he took Genesis as his brother in all but blood, he hadn't expected the sibling relation to carry over to Shelke and Shalua, as well, but it had. And he had found he didn't actually mind.

Yufi joined Shelke to lean on her back and wrap the gentler girl in a tight hug as she declared, "He's right, and he's not the only one who'll protect you."

"General Sephiroth!" a woman's voice called as she stepped out of the elevator. It was Lunaria that time, stepping out of the elevator opposite the one Hojo had left on. "Good, I caught up to you!" She then paused as she looked around at the group before looking at him again to ask, "What happened?"

"Hojo attempted to claim Alphonse and Shelke for his experiments," Sephiroth told her, and she made a face.

"Yes, we've known that was coming for awhile. He failed this time, but he's also been much more 'hush-hush' about his recent experiments, too. That's not why I'm here, though."

"Then why, Doctor Valentine?" the General asked curiously.

She gave a nod and said, "Doctors Kedran and Blythe are working through all the employee files and have found several people they want transferred to their care, including Miss Rockbell, yourself, young Cadet Strife, and others. I've given one copy of the list to each the Turks, SOLDIER, and the Academy, as well as a few others, but I wanted to give you a heads-up so you realize they aren't planning to do invasive and intrusive tests. It also offers protection from Hojo, since them being moved to their care means he can't interfere with them. Not openly, anyway."

"Is there a commonality we all have which would allow such a tactic to be viable?" Sephiroth asked in surprise.

Her gaze was amused as she said, "They found one, a very shocking one. Well, there's more than one—three they've told me about—and every person they're requesting has one or more of them. Their greatest breakthrough was when they examined Cadet Strife's file and asked him for a blood test, only to find his body would reject the current Mako infusions and he'd be refused entrance to SOLDIER without some genetic therapy first."

"So the commonality between us is something in our genes, even though Winry's never had any samples of her genes taken?" Al asked with a puzzled frown.

It was Evan who piped up to say, "She's been growing plants in her office like you do at home, Al. If they were paying attention to little things like that, it wouldn't really be a surprise, would it?"

"That's certainly true," Lunaria answered in amusement. She then looked up at Illis as she said, "But they needed something more tangible than a supposition to give to the President to get his approval."

Illis gave a faint sigh before saying, "They went and collected things like strands of hair from the people they didn't yet have medical records for. Is Eden on your list, too?"

"He is," Lunaria agreed with a small smile. Her gaze then went to Shelke as she told the girl, "They also asked me to give something to you, young Shelke Rui. I don't know what it is, but they said you'd feel safer with 'it' on you." She then pulled a paper-wrapped, long, narrow, and rounded package from a pocket on the inside of her doctor's coat and offered it to her.

After a moment, Shelke wiped her eyes and let go of Sephiroth so she could take the package—and her eyes widened in shock before she smiled and looked up at the woman to say, "Thank you, Doctor Valentine. They were right to say I'll feel safer."

"Good," the woman smiled. She then looked at Al and said, "When you get home, check with Anthony to see if Cloud's holding up all right—they said that was where they were headed after the meeting Cloud had with the doctors earlier."

"I'll do that, then. Thanks, Doctor," Al agreed.

"I'll be seeing you around, then," Lunaria agreed, gave Sephiroth's shoulder a pat, then turned to go back to the elevator.

Sephiroth faced the younger group and said, "You had best head out." With a nod to them, he headed for the exit doors quickly.

"Let's go. I have a call to make once we're in a more private setting," Illis said, herding the group of kids (and Al) out of the building after Sephiroth. The General had already vanished by the time they got outside.

She and Al both knew she'd have to call Tseng about the incident with Hojo, so he began helping her take charge of the younger ones.

SH

Tseng sat in his office, rubbing his eyes tiredly just after hanging up the call with Illis. He'd known ever since the incident with the growing orange trees that Hojo would eventually approach Alphonse, but he hadn't expected the man to try to claim Shelke as well. Their saving grace was really in the way their Academy kids tended to travel in 'packs', and in how the two Deepground doctors they'd saved had been telling the truth about not having been there because they had _wanted_ to see people suffering. At the moment, that gave him time, and his allies time, to figure out how best to handle the situation.

If he was completely honest with himself, the situation truly felt like it was spiraling out of control, no matter how hard he tried to keep a handle on it. Veld had told him before resigning that, with things the way they had been after the raid on Deepground, there was a good chance Tseng was going to get a 'Trial by Fire'. The warning hadn't been in vain, and that was currently what the Wutain was trying to weather, given how many things he had to try to keep an eye on and work some sort of damage control with.

Hojo wasn't going to keep waiting forever to get his hands on Alphonse and Shelke, nor was he likely to just let his 'prized subject', Sephiroth, get away from him. If anyone actually thought they were going to be safe, period, with the intervention of Doctors Kedran and Blythe, they were fools, because Hojo wasn't the sort to willingly hand off anyone or anything he'd claimed. No, what they'd gotten was 'time' to figure out how they could possibly work against Hojo's retaliation for the attempt to take his 'subjects' from him. Tseng, knowing how Wutains tended to react to such things, knew they'd just earned Hojo's enmity and a backlash easily as bad as anything Fuhito had (or would) dumped on them—it was just a matter of what he'd do and when.

They had far more problems to deal with than those, as well. If Eden had managed to get the shipment of items to them, he would be very happy when it came in, because they'd need the bonuses from them desperately to even _hope_ to weather what was coming. Even if they'd ended the Wutai War, with Hojo and Fuhito looming on the horizon and President Shinra most likely on their hidden hit list, they were going to have a problem, and lately, problems seemed to get dropped on them in multiples. How many people were going to die by the time they were done? Hopefully not enough to trigger Omega—Vant was turning out to be something akin to a Goddess-send, but if he switched to the state known as Chaos, all bets were off, by Vant's own request.

How in the world did Vant think they could possibly defeat a being as powerful as Chaos, when it had to be at least as strong as the Lifestream itself?

Having no answer to that question, he turned his thoughts to the situation with the traffickers they were trying to track. Two days ago, a few of the more established and dangerous ones had tried for Izumi and her two kids, but the woman had sent them packing and Balto had made a valiant effort to track them. Someone had apparently realized the three were being followed, because Balto had watched a sniper kill them, leaving him no further path to follow and no way to track the sniper beyond the location he or she had shot from. Riha had taken a look at the site and tracked the sniper to an apartment where they came to another dead end—presumably, the sniper was still on the loose, but he or she had killed the apartment's owner before leaving.

The only 'identification' the three would-be attackers had was the mark sewn onto their clothes which showed they were part of one specific group. The Turks had ended up in altercations with the group more than once, but that one in particular hid its core leadership well, giving it the opportunity to reform again several months to a few years later, so no matter how many underlings they took out, it was an endless fight. It was worse than Corneo's persistence, as at least they _knew_ Corneo was the head and could take him out if needed. It didn't help that there were several other groups of traffickers of various sorts—drugs, weapons, other valuable goods, humans, animals, and so on—but those were more localized groups with smaller networks, and destroying one caused a new one to take its place, not new members of the same group to step up.

Some Turks were assigned to tracking the targets they had of other groups, but Kariya and Vant tended to be the ones tracking anything to do with that persistent group. Vant especially had some sort of vendetta against them, having told Tseng that he was sure his generation of Turks had taken them out. If Kariya was right, however, and they were trading off goods to Fuhito, not only did they have to try to track that to its source, but they had to stop the exchanges. It left them the question of what Fuhito was giving them in exchange for their goods, especially if he was now running short on funds after being cut off from both Rufus and his sources in Wutai.

Tseng had also had to take some of the Turks off the search for Fuhito, mainly leaving it to Balto (in a way) in Midgar, Vant and Kariya wherever their targets were, and Judet and Quis in the north. While a few Turks were still running their usual fare of missions (finding SOLDIER candidates and gathering intel for those not in the main office), most had been sent scouting to fill in data for the SOLDIERs being sent on missions. And for some reason, they were being sent on _a lot_ of missions lately. They had thought they'd have a reasonable number of people in reserve after the Wutai War had ended, both in SOLDIER and the Turks, but instead, monster attacks were on the rise, and it took the Turks' ability to go unnoticed and track information to prepare the SOLDIERs for what they'd be going into.

It was puzzling. If anything, with what they were fixing, the monster attacks should have been _decreasing_ , not almost doubling in a few weeks. The Firsts who had become such due to the Deepground raid were being worked just as hard, or very nearly, as whichever Commanders were available at the time, and even the Seconds and Thirds were being run pretty much to their max. They were just _tired_. If it was true that the monsters were Jenova's creations and she wasn't quite dead yet, this could well have been her retaliation, her death throes. There was a good chance of that, which also meant they had to find her last anchors before she managed to completely overrun them with sheer exhaustion.

Then there were the strange fluctuations in the energy output levels of the Mako Reactors. Reeve and Winry had managed to stabilize them, not by finding the problem, but by diverting a small portion of the system to be taken by the drain so peoples' power supplies weren't affected. They and their people were still looking for the source of the problem, but it seemed to be external, leading to the assumption that the Turks now also had to find someone who was trying to hijack the Reactors. Someone who wasn't Fuhito.

To complicate matters further, Kain had been keeping track of messages going through their switchboard systems, which he had been promoted to very quickly, as switchboard monitoring was one of the lowest jobs in that branch of Shinra. He had found some messages from the President which implied he was starting to set up something he hadn't told anyone else about. Not that the President wasn't allowed to have 'private projects', but normally, he still used company employees for those, leaving a paper trail to follow for someone who cared to look. In this case, they had no idea what the project _was_ , how seriously it was being worked on, or who was doing it, only that it was someone from outside Shinra. The secrecy behind it set off warning bells in the Turks' minds.

It had also taken them a long time to find or track anything to do with their internal spy, because the only lead they'd had, even by using the cameras, had been people who were unidentifiable and not registered to Shinra. They had caught a couple once they had realized they were using some of the Turks' own disguise tricks against them, but those people'd had capsules of poison in their mouths, which they used to end their own lives before they could be questioned. Finally, after several failed attempts to do more than retrieve the records of the discussions recorded on the devices, they had simply pulled down and destroyed all of them, also doing bug sweeps across the whole building to find less obvious listening devices. They had found more than they had expected, and destroyed those, too.

He sighed again, only to be jolted out of his thoughts by Reno asking, "Doin' alright, yo?" He looked up tiredly at his red haired second-in-command, who commented, "Looks like you could do with a good sleep, Bossman."

A faint smile formed on the Wutain's lips as he said, "I'd like to, believe me, Reno. Unfortunately, I don't think that's going to work out well at the moment."

"Ya ain't gettin' any brownie points by wearin' yourself out, yo," the younger of the pair answered dryly.

"I know _that_ , too," Tseng agreed. "It looks like Hojo has made the first move to try to claim Alphonse—and Shelke. And to attempt to reclaim Sephiroth. There are so many aspects to what's going on right now that I'm honestly feeling overwhelmed by it all. If we didn't have so many allies in so many places, we'd be in trouble."

Reno cocked his head to the side, then shrugged and said, "You knew he'd do it. And we're the Turks. It's our business ta keep it all straight, yo. If ya can't, you really need ta rest."

"That's easy for _you_ to say when you don't have to assess all the data and give all the orders to keep everything running smoothly," the Wutain Turk replied in amusement.

"So let me give it a try while you get some rest, yo," Reno offered with an impish grin. "Ya know I'ma good commander 'n' tactician. Gimme a chance ta _prove_ it while ya get some shut-eye, yo. I can't mess somethin' up badly in one night."

Tseng gave him a faint smile, then turned to look at his computer screen thoughtfully for a minute. "If I do this, you'll have to be brought up to speed on some things you hadn't known or been dealing with before, which is going to mean you'll have to delve into quite a bit of paperwork. Is that okay with you?"

Reno made a small face, then gave a shrug. "Paperwork's a must for Turks, yo. Gotta do it, no matter what. If I'm gonna be the next Director, I'd better start gettin' used ta it, right, yo?"

The older man's brows rose into his hairline as he commented, "That's a surprisingly mature reaction about paperwork from you, Reno."

"Hey!" Reno glared at him, but it wasn't very heated, more like mild irritation.

"What changed?" Tseng asked curiously.

The red haired Turk was quiet for a few long moments before he reached up and rubbed the red mark off one of his cheekbones, showing the scars hidden beneath it openly for the first time. (1) He then pulled his hand away and looked down at the red on his fingers as he said, "Things're changin'. I'd been—like a kid just playin' a game before. 'Cept now the 'game' ain't no fun anymore 'n'...it just hit me that a buncha people're probably gonna die all at once, yo. Found _that_ out the hard way in the Slums."

"I beg your pardon?" Tseng asked in confusion, gazing intently at Reno.

"Went out ta one a' my usual haunts, yo. Shoulda been same ol' same ol', but on my way back, some creepy monster tried ta take a bite outta me," the red haired Turk answered. "Ya, monsters in the Slums ain't uncommon, but those're all Mako crazed or just—normal. For Midgar, anyway. This one was different, yo. It wouldn't fuckin' go _down_ , no matter _how_ many times I shoulda killed it, and when it was recoverin', I couldn't attack it. Somethin' was keepin' it from dyin', an' I only finally got ta kill it 'cause it was small—a Funny Face—'n' stuck in Pyramid. I wouldn't even call it healin' like the SOLDIERs get, 'cause it ain't. An' it seemed—electrified, I guess, yo. If that's the sorta thin' poppin' up now—there ain't no 'game' no more. If a Behemoth like that turned up, we'd be royally screwed."

The Wutain Turk rubbed his eyes tiredly with a sigh as he said, "And that's one _more_ problem. It's the first one of its kind I've heard of, anyway." He dropped his hand and looked up at Reno as he said, "Fine, if you're really game to take over here for awhile, I'll bring you up to speed, then get some rest. While you're here, do up a formal report on the monster and the issues you encountered during the battle. I'd like to have it by morning so I can forward it to the people who need it."

"Will do, yo!" Reno agreed with a smile and nod, moving around the desk to stand beside Tseng as the man showed him the new data he needed. As he did, Reno rubbed off the other red mark so his scars were visible on both sides of his face.

 **Notes:**

(1) This is Reno coming closer to what he looked like in FFVII and later in the timeline, with his scars showing instead of bold red marks. I'm not even going to try to guess why he even has those scars, so feel free to make up whatever history for Reno that you like.


	56. 52-Banora's Goddess Materia

Banora's Goddess Materia

In the end, the group in Wutai had two more days of meetings, then another day off, during which they went out to get the Enemy Skills off the—grass bundle-like monster called a Razor Weed and the massive turtle called an Adamantaimai. The Razor Weed gave them the Skill Magic Hammer, which reduced the target's ability to cast, and the Adamantaimai gave them Death Force, which prevented instant-death attacks from working. They then had two more days of meetings before leaving Wutai to stop over at Junon for three days for the President to hold video conferences with Rufus. From there, they were off again, that time to go island hopping.

First, they flew down to a small, desert island on the south of the map, where they found cactus monsters and a Summon Materia known as Siren (1). Their next stop was the Temple of the Ancients, where it took Roy, Kamil, and Eden a little over two days to realize they needed to slot a special stone (or Materia?) into the indent in the door to make it open. Until they could find the 'stone', they were at a dead end there, so on what would have been their third full day there, they headed to Mideel, instead. Freyra eagerly showed them around the friendly village, and Eden bought the Contain Materia he found in the shop there before they found rooms for an overnight stay.

The following day, they headed to Banora, where Genesis at first refused to get off the Highwind, only giving them directions to the shops and the Inn. Eden found an Independent Materia he'd never heard of before called Item Boost (2), so bought it before returning to the airship to work with Genesis on the arrays for Felicia and Zirconaide. The two made some progress on it with Libby's help with the projections of the arrays, but they were interrupted that evening by Aeris walking into the room they were in with meals prepared by the Innkeeper.

"Are you planning to stop long enough to eat and sleep?" she asked them teasingly as she put the basket with the food in it on the end of the table they were sitting at.

"Oh, is that food?" Genesis asked a little too innocently.

"Of course!" the girl grinned. "I come bearing gifts! You'd better eat it while it's still hot, now!"

"Fantastic! You are my Goddess!" Genesis pronounced enthusiastically as he retrieved the basket and opened it up to begin pulling out the food she'd brought.

"Are you talking to Aeris or to the basket of food?" Eden asked in amusement as he snatched what looked like a travel package of noodles and meat sauce.

"Why, the food, of course," the red haired man answered with a pout.

"I don't think Minerva would be happy to know she was so easily displaced in your affections," Aeris told him with a wide grin which bordered on a sly smirk.

Genesis froze at the words for a moment, then blinked and looked up at the brown haired girl in confusion before he gave a very real smirk and replied, "On the contrary, my dear Flower Girl. You see, everything on the Planet is produced directly by her from her energy, which means we _should_ be worshipping everything around us as parts of her. This is literally a 'bounty from the earth's bosom', and worshipping it—and staying healthy in the process—is the same as worshipping her directly. Also, I rather think she would prefer we stay as healthy as possible so we can keep helping to save her. She wouldn't produce healthy food for us otherwise."

Aeris began giggling at the words as she said, "Now I know why she likes you so much. Anyway, enjoy your meal and rest. Also, since you're going to be otherwise occupied, I'd like to borrow Libby to see the letters Elder Bugenhagen said Libby has for me from my parents?" Her gaze moved to Eden at that, seeing how his amused grin became a startled blink before he finished chewing and swallowing the food in his mouth.

Once he could talk without displaying his meal to them, he said, "Sure, you can have a look at them." He then picked Libby up to whisper her true name to her to unlock (or re-unlock) the holographic system for Aeris' use. "Go along with Aeris, Libby, and let her have access to Professor Gast's and Ifalna's letters to the Elder."

"Okay!" Libby agreed, then turned to look at Aeris from her place on the table. "Where are we going?"

"Back to my room on board. Thank you Eden, Libby," the brown haired girl said as she reached over to pick up the dog-rabbit-ish robot. A moment later, the two were gone, so the two men ate in peace.

After they finished eating, Eden eyed Genesis for a moment before asking, "So what's here in your hometown that would make you want to avoid it so severely?"

There was a silence and a shadow over the red haired man's eyes for a moment before he sighed softly and said, "It's exactly _because_ it's my hometown."

"...It is?" the blond Turk asked with a blink, then yawned behind his hand.

Genesis gave him a look which was a cross between amused and apprehensive, then shrugged and said, "My family, the people who—raised me through my childhood—didn't adopt me because they _wanted_ me, and especially when I was young, they were really cold to me. It amounted to neglect, and it was obvious they didn't care back then, though it began to ease off later on. I kept wondering, asking myself—and Angeal, too, sometimes—why they even adopted me in those circumstances. I never got an answer to the 'why', but they...I'm not entirely sure where I stand with them anymore, but it's not really more than maybe 'friendly', and I don't think I'll be welcomed back, because even that was kinda iffy. Also, most of the town wasn't that fond of me because I was so different, so flamboyant."

For a long moment, Eden gazed at him—he almost fell asleep, too, making him wonder what was wrong with him lately—then thought of something and asked, "Do you think seeing them now, to ask them those questions, would give you closure, or would it open the wound more?"

"What?" Genesis asked in surprise.

"...A lot of people push someone who was hurt to go back to whoever hurt them, like a woman who was raped meeting her rapist again one last time. That can actually be as damaging or more damaging than the initial rape was, so I'm not so sure that's a good policy to push on people, but there are ones it helps, too. I don't have the details, but...you need to decide whether it'll hurt you more to find out or to avoid them and move forward without ever having an answer. How important is it to you to know? It's possible to just let all of that past go and move forward from there, with a blank slate, if you think that's what will hurt you the least," the younger man explained. "What do _you_ need to do?"

For several long moments, Genesis just stared absently at him, gaze unfocused and obviously turned inward. Finally, he rose and said, "I'll ask them one more time, and if they don't answer, it'll be time to cut all ties. Come with me, please?"

"Okay," Eden agreed, also rising and following the older man from the room and off the airship to head to the Mayor's manor, the largest home in the town.

At the door, the red haired man hesitated, then drew in a deep breath and lifted his hand to knock on the door. After a long silence, as they were about to leave, the door opened to reveal a dark haired woman with dark eyes and faintly tanned skin. She was just starting to gray, but her eyes widened in shock and she suddenly threw her arms around Genesis' neck. "Genesis! You're all right, strong, healthy...Why haven't you sent us _even one letter_ to let us know how you were doing? We only knew you made it to Midgar and into SOLDIER because of all the news articles about you and Angeal!" she burst out as she hugged him.

After getting over his initial shock, the younger man lifted his arms to wrap them around her, saying quietly, "I'm sorry, Mother...I was...torn between thinking I would be welcome and thinking I wouldn't be, so I couldn't..."

She let him go and leaned back to look him in the eye sadly before saying, "We did a lot wrong when we raised you—back when you asked why, we couldn't...Well, we've decided after all these years that it's probably better for you to know why, but that's a private discussion for later this evening. But, you should come in and talk with us, tell us how you've been doing. Come in—you and your friend are both welcome."

Genesis turned to look at Eden, just to see him covering another yawn. His gaze turned faintly amused as he said, "You really _are_ tired, Eden. Would you rather just go back to the Highwind and rest?"

Eden raised a brow at him and asked, "You're fine from here?"

There was a short pause before the older man nodded. "I think I will be. Thank you. If you really need the rest, though, you should take it."

"We'll have all day tomorrow to rest," the Turk shrugged.

With an amused shake of the head, Genesis answered, "Don't count on it, since I'm _sure_ we're going to be going spelunking tomorrow."

"Oh, for—boys!" the older woman scowled, but her lips were twitching. "You never change, do you?"

"Not really," Genesis chuckled. His gaze went back to Eden questioningly.

"...Fine, I'll go sleep. Enjoy your visit," Eden agreed. He looked at the woman and said, "It was nice meeting you, Ma'am. Hopefully there'll be more time another day for a longer visit." He then gave them both a wave and walked away, looking back only once to see them both stepping inside the house.

Soon after, he had made his way to the inn and gotten a room there where he could sleep for the rest of the night.

SH

Morning came far too early as far as he was concerned, and Aeris actually dumped a pail of cold water on him to wake him up. Once he had recovered from the sudden 'dunking', the two of them joined the others in the main room of the inn, Genesis with them and looking a little tired but otherwise well. "So, are there any other places to explore before we head to the Materia Mine in the northeast?" Rufus was just asking as Eden joined them to begin eating the breakfast the others had thoughtfully ordered for him.

"There are stories the villagers tell about caves beneath the town," Kunzel offered.

"I heard the same," Kamil agreed.

"So did I," Cissnei added.

"And?" Rufus asked them with a slight frown.

"The entrance is on the outskirts of town, and there's something there which I don't think Shinra ever really bothered to look into. I've never gotten past the inner door myself because it has a reset time and one or two people can't gather the keys fast enough before it expels them all over the cave system again and you have to start over," Genesis filled in.

A long silence followed the words before Aeris asked, "You wouldn't happen to know what's there, would you?"

"Nope. Something someone—probably Minerva—thought was really important, though," Genesis answered.

"What did you mean about keys being expelled around the cave system?" Rufus asked with a small frown.

"I think either the majority of the cave or about half of it is outside that door, where we can access the keys," the red haired man told them, looking faintly amused. "The door's made of something like a cross between metal and stone, as is the pillar the keys go on, and there are seven of them. They're special Materia shards which have a built-in time limit to how fast all seven need to be gathered and inserted into the pillar in front of the door. If you can't gather them before the time limit is up, the shards are transported magically to other random locations within the cave, and you can't take them out of the cave from the front door—they'll just vanish from your hand and reappear in a random place in the cave. With the number of us here and how easily we'll be able to fight off things like the bats in there, we should be able to do it."

"Let's go do it, then, if only for curiosity's sake," Roy put in, sounding interested in what may lie behind the doors.

"Sure," Genesis agreed, rising. "Follow me, then, and brace yourselves to do some walking in water. It's not deep, but our feet _will_ be soaked through by the time we're done."

A few of the others made faces, but they all headed out to the cave entrance, which was to one side of the dumbapple tree fields, in the side of the hills to that side of town. It first led down, turning back on itself in the general direction of town, but rather than stopping at the first junction in the cave paths, Genesis led them along a specific route. Soon after, they came to a pillar in front of the doors he'd mentioned. While most of the cave was dark, bluish stone, the pillar and doors were brown, and everyone could see the seven Materia slots, with one at the top and the other six running down the sides in pairs, each pair further apart than the pair before to form an up-side down V. From each of those seven slots was a band trailing over the face of the pillar and down its front side to the floor, where they spread to different spots around the door.

It was at the pillar where they 'arranged parties' to look for the seven Materia shards, though Aeris decided to run off with Carbuncle because everyone was trying to be so protective of her. After she ran off, Genesis said they should hurry and gather the other keys so it would take the pressure of monster mobs off her without 'helping' her. Cissnei was put out that Aeris hadn't even let _her_ go along, so the SOLDIER sent her to the area closest to the path Aeris had taken. It was then decided that Rufus, Dark Nation, and Kunzel would stay at the pillar and door to establish that as their safe zone, something they did willingly as it would mean they'd get the least dirty. Stray Hope, Cait Sith, and Libby stayed with them as non-combatants.

At that point, Freyra pointed out that it may be best to keep their exit clear, too, so she volunteered to keep that path clear of monsters while occasionally stepping outside the entrance to make sure no monsters from outside would join them. Nanaki joined her to do so, since it was a long route and could become a second safe zone for the others if needed. That left Genesis, Eden, Roy, Kamil, and Deneh to hunt for the last five Materia shards which would unlock the door, each of them working independently and quickly.

Aeris, to everyone's surprise, had been the first to return, perfectly healthy and unharmed, with Carbuncle wandering back into the area of the pillar several minutes later as the Summon hunted along the walls for something. What the creature was looking for was anyone's guess, and it had left the room again soon after. Rufus vowed to Aeris to never take her as weak or in need of protection again, even as Kunzel watched on while snickering in amusement. Genesis was the next to return, then Kamil, followed closely by Roy, then by Eden. Deneh and Cissnei came back together, both looking like they'd fallen in the same pool of muck and both looking very annoyed. As they were about to send someone to get Freyra and Nanaki, they returned with a very pleased-looking Carbuncle.

The whole process had taken about fifteen minutes, so they began placing the shards in the pillar—and watched in no little amount of awe as the door shone in several places and opened by sliding sideways from the middle. It opened into a large cavern with a raised section and a statue of Minerva, but unlike the one in Aeris' Church, this one held in its hands a massive Materia shard easily two to three feet in diameter, which looked mostly translucent, cloudy white with flickering red lights inside it. The cavern at least didn't seem to have been filled with water, and the floors were smoother than the ones in the rest of the cave had been.

However, as they entered the chamber, something seemed to howl and a massive object like some sort of airship or spaceship appeared in the middle of the cavern, taking up most of the space above the statue. It was in largely gray metal, but they couldn't see its top to know if it was the same color, and its multitude of spikes and weapons were intimidating. The first thing it did after appearing was to somehow release another howl and a wave of laser-like, dark beams. Everyone had to act quickly to dodge the beams.

Genesis and Roy were the first ones to launch attacks on it, burning its hull so it was streaked with black as it released a pained howl. The others quickly joined in, but Roy suddenly stopped and shook his head like he was trying to clear it and Aeris had been staring blankly up at the 'ship'.

As it howled again in pain at the onslaught of further attacks, Aeris suddenly yelled, "Stop it! Stop attacking it!"

"We're a little busy trying to keep it from killing us, Sweetheart!" Freyra shouted back.

Aeris frowned at them, then shook her head and tapped into both her energy and the Lifestream's, causing her to glow with green-white light before the light flared and filled the cavern. Silence fell as everyone was blinded, then the light burst and wings spread away from everyone, including the 'ship', before they burst and the feathers vanished in light. Everyone had been healed by the action, and more than that, they had been calmed, even the 'ship', which now sat peaceably above them.

Suddenly, from the statue of Minerva, there was a flash of light before everyone was swallowed by darkness which quickly cleared into flowing bands of green-white energy—raw Lifestream. In front of them, there appeared a woman who resembled the statues in the Slum Church and the cave they'd just been in, but she was in full color and 'in the flesh'. Her gown was white with many armored pieces in gold across chest, shoulders, hands and arms, and feet, and there was a staff in her hands which was topped by a large, crescent-like blade. She had pale skin, Lifestream green eyes, and golden blond hair, and her features were delicate and strong at the same time. Everyone was surprised, but of them all, Roy was probably the most stunned, followed by Kamil.

 _:Greetings, travelers,:_ she told them, but her mouth didn't move, leaving them to realize she was talking straight into their minds. _:I am Minerva, as some of you had guessed.:_

She was interrupted by the black haired Amestrian muttering, "She's really _real_..." The words produced a faintly amused smile from her and most of the others gathered there, though some of them also looked wry, as they also hadn't actually believed Minerva existed.

 _:You have all been working so hard, you and your allies. You are about to experience a great loss, yet your journey must proceed as planned, your tasks of the utmost importance to the fate of my world and its people,:_ Minerva told them, proceeding with what she had intended to say before Roy had spoken.

Her gaze turned to Aeris as she said, _:Thank you, my Beloved Child. Your strength and kindness are a blessing and boon to this world. The Limit Break I have given you access to is the most powerful of those which you would be capable of learning. It is called by me Great Gospel, and will repair even fatal damage at least once, providing needed calm and needed shielding of the highest degree for a time after being cast on your allies. Use it when you most feel the need, but only sparingly until your body has adapted to accessing a skill of such power. Never forget to protect your own life, even before the lives of your companions, Beloved Child.:_

Again, she paused, then looked at Eden. _:Ancient Sentinel, I fear more influenced you in the stagnant Mako cave than merely the physical injury you suffered. I have taken steps to produce something which I believe will assist you, though it yet needs time to form. You shall discover it in the north. I pray I have correctly assessed the mental and emotional damage the stagnant Mako wrought in you and its cure before it becomes truly harmful to your well-being. Also, I will impart to you a few details to pass on to your various helpers for your 'projects'. I am uncertain as to how to apply them beyond this.:_

Her gaze moved then to Genesis and a hint of a smile formed on her lips. _:I am pleased to see you looking so well, my Judge. You have grown strong, though your obsession could do for some tempering. Find your own peace within yourself and leave all of your past hurts there. You have never needed to carry them with you.:_

To everyone's surprise, her gaze then moved to Rufus. _:Prodigal Son of the Star-Travelers.:_ She paused to gaze at him evenly, almost sadly, before going on, _:You have so much potential to do so much good, if only your reason was 'for the sake of doing so.' My teachings to my children have been lost in time, yet only one with influence such as yours has the ability to restore those teachings. As you are now, you are not willing. Regardless, my Ancient Sentinel has done you much good, and I shall impart that knowledge to you, knowledge you shall only become aware of in stages as you are willing to accept them. Please attempt to open your mind to bring true change to a world of suffering.:_

At the words, Rufus cleared his throat and said quietly, "I'll give it my best effort, but circumstance may cause it to take awhile."

She gave a nod to him, then turned her gaze to Deneh and Nanaki. _:Children of the Cosmo Candle, you both have a sacred path ahead of you, and there are some things you both must know. One is that there are others of your kind who have been in hiding since the time of the Calamity. I have imprinted the location of the entrance to their home to you, and once this situation has been resolved, you may seek them out. There is one other surprise with them, though it may not be safe for the surprise to actively reemerge for some time after the others of the Moto Tribe have reappeared.:_

Her gaze went to Nanaki specifically as she added, _:You have led yourself to believe your father was a coward who ran from the battle against the Gi Tribe at the time of your birth. He was not a coward, but a hero who stood alone against the assault of the Gi through the rear caverns leading into Cosmo Canyon from below. Follow in his footsteps and be proud of him, to be his son.:_

Nanaki dropped to the ground in shock at the words, so she looked around at the others with them to say, _:Thank you, all of you, for everything you have done and everything you will yet do. You and all your allies have been far more of a boon than I had ever imagined, and regardless of the fate of this world, know you have still produced a much better result than would have taken place otherwise. All of you have saved so many more people than would have been saved had things not come about this way.:_

She then looked up at the device, the 'ship', above her and said, _:This entity was an unexpected creation formed by the remains of intelligence of a sort left behind by the star-ships which arrived here long ago, after the Calamity came. It came about recently, and has the general form of a Summoned being.:_ She turned her gaze to Eden to say, _:You are collecting Materia, and this is one creation I would very much like to keep now that I am aware of it and its nature. Please take Ark (3) and take care of it.:_ A red Summon Materia formed in front of Eden as the 'ship' funneled its energy into the orb, and once Ark had formed fully into the Materia, Eden grasped it.

 _:I have one other requirement of you,:_ Minerva said to them, but her gaze was focused on Genesis and Eden. _:There are three Materia which are unusual besides the ones for Chaos and the Weapons. Those three are this Materia here, the White Materia, and the Black Materia. This one is to remain untouched as it forms the heart of Omega should the need arise, and will travel with me elsewhere intact. White and Black, however, are both world-destroyers I should never have created and must now eliminate. Once you know of the rapid method of reverting them to raw Lifestream energy to return them to me, please do so._

 _:White is safe currently, and will be given to you upon the discovery of the method. Black, however, is—the Temple of the Ancients and will slaughter the one who resolves the puzzles to retrieve it and destroy the Temple. While I had created them with the intent to destroy Jeh-nova by any means necessary, it is also true that I used much of my strength to do so, and returning them to me shall have more than one benefit. Prepare yourselves well, and forgive me for creating such a force as Black, as a creation of living sacrifice. That error in judgment has pained me since soon after I made it, yet without your assistance, I am unable to rectify it myself. I am sorry for placing you in such a position as this.:_

With that, she vanished, taking the swirling lights and the darkness with her. They blinked and found themselves back in the cavern with the Materia and statue of the Goddess.

Genesis and Eden traded ill expressions as the blond said, "Well, it looks like it wasn't actually an accident we arrived here, but—that last point is really a downer."

"We should go rest," Cissnei said, her breath coming in short bursts. The others looked at her worriedly, but she just shook her head.

"I agree that we should rest before we try to look too closely at what just happened here," Kamil agreed quietly.

With those words, the group slowly trudged out of the cave, removing the Materia from the pillar as they did so, which allowed the door to close. By taking the shards out of the cave with them, they allowed them to teleport randomly into new places inside it.

The remainder of that day and that night at the Inn in Banora wasn't a good one for any of them. Most of them were pondering what Minerva had told them in the cave around wondering what was happening in Midgar...

 **Notes:**

(1) This is a Summon I added to the story, but it also appears in other FF games. As a general rule, she does minimal damage and causes Silence, has wings for ears, and is holding a lyre—a small, hand-held harp, basically.

(2) Item Boost exists in Crisis Core, so like with Aero and Water, I didn't think it would be unreasonable to have it appear here. It's an Independent which increases the effect of an item being used, generally by double—a Potion, which restores 100 (or 'a small amount of') health would give 200 instead, for example. Also, this could be very useful for our crew!

(3) Ark is also a new Summon for FFVII, but does exist in at least one other FF game.


	57. 53-Monsters in Midgar (MiM): Waking

**A/N:** For those having trouble keeping track of the rapid jumps in passage of time, these next several chapters of this scenario are happening the same day as the previous chapter (in Banora), but 16 days after the incident with Hojo trying to claim Al/Shelke/Sephiroth (which was the same day Eden found the Wutain Black Market). Also, the time difference between Banora and Midgar is 4 hours (yes, I put time zones on a world map of Gaia to do this assessment), with Banora 4 hours ahead. That means 10AM in Banora (the approximate time they met Minerva) would have been 6AM in Midgar, and it's now about 11AM in Midgar, so around 3PM in Banora. It's February 16th, if anyone was wondering.

Anyway, the folks in Midgar have one Hell of a day ahead of them, so...Let's get this 'Monsters in Midgar' arc started! It was hard to work out the best order of scenes for this massive event, so bear with me.

Note: Every monster I used except one is a noted 'experiment' Hojo created and Zack fought on (optional, I think) missions in Crisis Core. They're just...'super' versions of those. See the end of the chapter for the list of them.

 **Readers of both SH and FoW:** it would be best to read this arc fully in both paths, because even for all the similarities, there are significant differences, and perspectives which sometimes appear in one but not the other version. Some of those perspectives are even still valid, up to a point, in both paths.

Monsters In Midgar: Waking

"Well _that's_ disturbing," Felicia sighed as she stood over one of the crates she had sliced open just outside 7th Heaven. Several other members of Gaia's Refuge stood with her, staring in stunned horror at what they had found.

What they actually stood over now was an Abyss Worm (1) which had been drugged into unconsciousness. It was colored black with yellow stripes and was effectively a giant worm with a very large, circular mouth full of sharp fangs—the body and mouth were large enough to swallow a grown man whole. When aware, they were burrowers which could move to their prey through the ground below them, then come up right under their feet.

As if that wasn't dangerous enough, she had already tried to kill it once, and the immediate blow and fatal damage had been nearly immediately undone, leaving only surface lacerations—and those were healing at about the same recovery rate as SOLDIERs had. When she'd tried attacking it while it was recovering, the blow had glanced off it and done it no damage, as though it had an invisible shell covering its body now. Once it had finished recovering, she attacked it again and got the same result as the first time, including the shell when it returned to its recovery state.

Her mind flashed back to the report Tseng had sent her from one of his Turks who had fought a Funny Face (2) in the Slums showing these same traits. Was this one of those? The only way she'd know was to try it a few more times and see if she'd get its recovery rate to start slowing down.

After going through the process of attacking it several more times, she found the process was indeed following the pattern from the Turks' report—and they were now all breathing clean, clear air in the surrounding area (Wasn't _that_ just _strange_?)—but it still hadn't died. And it had started—sparking? Yes, it was 'sparking', like it was filled with an electrical charge.

She pulled out her PHS to send a request to all her members around the Slums (none should have been on the Upper Plate at the time), to ask for local reports from all Sectors on similar crates to the one she'd found, even as she scanned the area for the next nearest set of crates to her.

"Go break open those crates next to the Inn," she said as she indicated a few of her members, so the three of them headed across the street.

That morning, as they'd done their rounds in the Sector 7 Slums, they'd seen _a lot_ of very new-looking crates scattered around which she _knew_ hadn't been there the day before. They had all appeared literally overnight, and while a few new crates wouldn't have been noted as strange (it was fairly common to see daily turnovers of as many as ten crates in any one area), in Sector 7 alone, she'd seen approximately a hundred. Hence her deciding to open one of them to start with. As the people she'd sent across the street broke those smaller ones open to reveal several more monsters, those ones Sahagins (3) and Blood Tastes—or clones of Dark Nation (4)—she sighed. To further her sudden bout of exhaustion, all her agents across the Slums were reporting back no less than two dozen crates in any one area.

Now that they knew the contents of the crates, the big question was where so many had come from. Even if she took into account all of the Science Department labs (several floors of the Shinra building were allocated as lab space, not just sixty-seven and sixty-eight), there wasn't enough space in them for the sheer number of monsters, let alone ones as large as Abyss Worms. If all the crates held monsters, which they likely did, they had just been put in a situation akin to all the monsters of the Northern Crater being suddenly dropped on them...

With the realization, she sent a message to her people to prepare themselves for battle against a mass mob of monsters fitting the Turk report's description of 'just won't die', then turned to the Abyss Worm again—as it woke up. So did the Sahagins and the Guard Hounds, and all the still-sealed crates began to shake or break open. Monsters were suddenly all over the city, and they were all ornery. In the air were Evil Eyes (5)—which had green bodies, two legs with clawed feet, a reptilian tail, two bat-like wings, and one giant eye above its fanged mouth—and Evilgoyles (6), which were brown and reddish-brown Gargoyles. Funny Faces had joined the Sahagins and Blood Tastes, which she'd expected from the Turks' report, but there was at least one Abyss Worm in addition to the one she'd already damaged—

And a Death Claw (7) a few streets over. A Death Claw, like an Abyss Worm, could dive underground, but the distance it could go to its prey was shorter and it was less adept at underground travel. However, it made up for that by being singularly more deadly in battle, as it resembled a cross between a humanoid and a spider. It was colored in pale browns and steely grays, and while its spike-tipped arms could be used to assist its movement, they were weapons—eight powerful, sharp spears. Of the monsters in the Slums, those two, the Abyss Worm and the Death Claw, were singularly the most dangerous, the largest, and the ones most difficult to handle, to defeat.

"Fight the monsters here and try to get people to shelter! After I finish with this bastard, I'm going after the Death Claw, then the other Abyss Worm! Keep your eyes open for more of their ilk and let me know immediately where they are!" she yelled as she brutally struck down the Abyss Worm she'd already damaged, sending it back into recovery.

There was agreement from her people as they scattered to fight monsters and round up the panicking civilians.

Since she had a free moment because of the Abyss Worm's recovery, she sent a note to Tseng about the monsters in the Slums, then turned back to her battle. She just hoped they weren't yet so tired from all the other monster attacks lately that it would become a losing battle before the Turks had a chance to find their weakness.

And she was sure it would be them to do it, investigators that they were, and with access to Hojo.

Either way, even with all her people working on fighting the monsters, getting into the other Sectors was going to be difficult, no matter how she looked at it, and she could only pray someone would help organize and protect people in other Sectors until Gaia's Refuge could get there and help.

SH

Shopping in Wall Market was _always_... _interesting_ , Izumi had to admit as she withdrew her fist from a man's gut after he'd tried to grab Naomi. As it was, the younger girl had left impressive nail marks on his face, and Ken was cheering them both on. So were the nearby shopkeepers of the street stalls, for that matter. There was a rare day where no one tried to grab one or all of them while they were shopping, but otherwise, they were far more likely to meet unsavory humans than to meet monsters.

A look around once the man had gone slinking away showed many, many new-looking boxes around, and several men gathered by an alley entrance as they obviously guarded a stack of very specific, large crates. She assessed the latter as a weapons shipment because of those being guarded by men she knew as weapons runners. However, all the _other_ new-looking crates weren't being guarded, and there were just far too many of them for one overnight. Some of the crates were quite large, and the oddity of it all made her question what the crates were for.

"Naomi, Ken, stay close to me. Something's not right here," she told the two.

"What's wrong?" Naomi asked as the two stayed close to her sides.

"See all those very new crates around?" she asked. Both looked around quickly and gave agreement, so she said, " _That's_ what's wrong, and I doubt we'll like what's in them." Both 'oh'ed' in realization.

A few minutes later, she was proven right as the crates began breaking open and releasing dozens of monsters, some of them as large and dangerous as Death Claws and Abyss Worms. The rest seemed to be Evil Eyes, Sahagins, Funny Faces, and Blood Tastes, but there were _a lot_ of them. In the chaos ensuing from the monsters waking up, Izumi paused to scan the surroundings, only stopping in her assessment long enough to—crush—a Funny Face as it tried to attack her. Only, she froze and stared at the monster in amazement as the damage she'd dealt it almost completely reversed itself in moments and the downed monster kept twitching as the remainder of the damage healed more slowly.

"Uh...Mom..." Ken began in shock as the Funny Face got up again to attack her.

Izumi crushed it again, mind flashing back to the Turks' report on the monster which just wouldn't die, and made an instant decision. "Come," she ordered the two children, turning to march right over to the alley where the weapons runner were.

"Hey, Lady—" one began as she neared them, but before anyone could blink, she'd shot past them and punched the nearest of their shipment crates. It broke open and spilled a cache of—loaded—guns onto the ground.

The woman wasted no time in grabbing two of the guns and shoving one each into Ken's and Naomi's hands, then took another for herself. Looking up at the runners and seeing them torn between wanting to stop her and wanting to focus on the monsters, she said simply, "Now _isn't_ the time to be possessive of your goods." She then looked at the two children and said, "Naomi, Ken, point those at the monsters and shoot them. If you run out of ammunition, pick up another one and do the same thing."

Turning back to the battle and chaos on the street—did anyone out there really think they'd survive behaving like _that_?—she stepped forward into the mess to attack the nearest monsters with her fists and feet. At the same time, she used the gun and her Turk-issued Materia to launch attacks on enemies further away. As she was fighting, she yelled at the top of her lungs, "Rally to me! Rally to me! Non-combatants, find replacement cartridges in the crates for the guns! Combatants, pick up weapons, any weapon you can, and fight! Rally to me now!"

Her yell and the calm zone she'd created around herself and the weapons runners' alley immediately drew people to her, enforcing calm on them, regardless of the monsters. They _did_ rally to her, some immediately joining her at her sides to fight and a few breaking open more of the runners' crates to find replacement cartridges for the guns which had already been used up. Some didn't know what they should do at first, until they saw little Ken and Naomi shooting down monsters alongside the weapons runners. Many chose to pick up weapons from the runners' cache and fought from their line, and still more—mostly criminals and mercenaries—also joined Izumi's fight in front of the runners' line. Children were shoved in behind the defensive lines while their parents chose to either fight or restock the guns. Some children even joined Naomi and Ken to help fight.

The battle drew the attention of the Death Claw and Izumi saw it heading in their direction—as a familiar woman in a green dress fell to the ground with a Sahagin bearing down on her. Izumi jumped forward to send the Sahagin flying, then roughly seized the other woman by the wrist and dragged her up, shoving her in the direction of the alley—just in time for her to miss being speared by half of the Death Claw's claws.

"Get to the alley, Elmyra!" she ordered the woman, who stared at her for a moment.

"Thanks, Izumi," Elmyra replied gratefully before turning to run to the alley as the Death Claw recovered from its missed strike and turned to Izumi.

"All right, you ugly bastard, you'd better _go down_ and _stay_ down!" she glared at it.

It roared in challenge, then she and it launched themselves at one another, and with a decisive strike to the Death Claw's skull, the first round went to Izumi.

...It was going to be a _loooong_ fight.

SH

Zack was whistling an old, favorite victory tune from Gongaga as he made his way off the train at the Sector 5 stop on the Upper Plate, planning to catch an early lunch before heading back to Headquarters. He'd just beaten up some of the monsters in the Slums—another round of them, anyway—and wanted to relax for a bit before being sent on his next mission. The best part of being a First was how he had plenty of money to spend, so he didn't really begrudge the massive amount of work they'd had lately. Of course, he was really the only one who could fully 'keep up with' the pace, and that was at the cost of some of his Materia Mastering time and energy, but he still got to do some of that, too.

Right, the Mastering. He hadn't expected to have so much energy to start with, but since he did, it was logical for him to supply the others who were in the know about the real state of the world. Tseng had agreed to get 'the kids' Mastered Final Attacks and either Revives or Phoenixes first and foremost, which he'd done, as well as ones for their non-combatants. After that, tactically speaking, they also needed combat and Summon support for their combatants, who were all used to protecting themselves and knew the risks they were taking.

When Zack had asked some of the Turks if they wanted the combo, they'd almost all said 'maybe later, what I'd really like right now is a...' and given him something else to produce for them. Tseng looked amused by Zack's obvious confusion, but had made a list for Zack to take back to his room with him. For some time while Eden and Genesis had been away, he'd been working on the list Tseng had given him, and on requests for more Mastered elements for Al's experiments.

At one point, he'd even thought of taking one of the Final Attack and Revive pairs he had left over (one to be kept for Rufus and Kamil respectively) to slot on himself, but then thought it would be redundant with him being a First and having survived the raid on Deepground. It was then when he'd realized what the Turks had meant when they said other things were currently more useful to them. Yeah, he could have used it, and it might even have activated at some point to save him, but in reality, he was a soldier expecting to die sometime, and it was far more useful to him to have things he could use to protect others. Like Carbuncle, as strange as that one seemed. Or Unicorn, though he'd left a Mastered one of those with Reno the other day for a reason he couldn't fathom rather than using it himself.

The discussion he'd had with the smirking, red haired Turk had reminded him of why he avoided Reno in 'creepy mode', especially when the older man was fascinated by two green stones now fixed to the hilt of his EMR.

An early lunch was a much nicer thought to focus on.

As he was leaving the station's front doors, a rather large crate which had been left against the outside wall near them suddenly rocked, causing yelps and alarmed shouts from people nearby. He was sure it hadn't been there when he'd taken the last train into the Slums at two in the morning because the Infantry had called for help. When the crate rocked again, people began scattering away from it and Zack, frowning as he felt something was very wrong, diverted from his path to head towards it.

A moment later, his instinct proved him right as something in the crate roared—and the crate exploded in bits of burning, metal-reinforced wood. What was left behind in the crate's place was a Behemoth (8), a very angry one, and obviously full grown, given how it was nearly twice his height at the shoulder. It had a short furred, largely dark purple, heavily muscled body with a large-cat-like face and a dark maroon mane running down its spine from head to shoulders, where the spine grew a small, fin-like ridge running down to the tapering tail. Its eyes glowed blue and it had large, metallic, black claws, fangs, and forward-pointing horns over a foot and a half long.

There was the sound of breaking wood and more screams from behind him, making him turn his head to look—and he had to stare in shock as he realized there had been many, many more monster crates up and down the street. They had _also_ broken free and were quickly scattering around the city streets, from airborne Evil Eyes and Evilgoyles to the grounded Blood Tastes, Epiolnises (9), Funny Faces, and—Bombs? No, normal Bombs were simply a large ball of fire with a jack-o-lantern-like face, but these ones had blackened faces, so they were a more powerful relative of the Bomb called a Destroyer (10).

"...Well _this_ is sure a mess," Zack sighed, drawing his sword and facing the Behemoth again. "First off, the Behemoth. I can get the small fries later." That decided, he charged at the monster, dodging its attempt to maul him and bringing his blade down on its lowered head, then using the impact to throw himself back and out of its range.

Even though the blow caused the Behemoth to collapse, Zack felt like something was wrong, so as soon as he landed back on his feet, his gaze returned to the monster again. His sword strike should have had the power behind it to crush its skull like he'd done to other Behemoths in the north, but somehow, it hadn't. Both its feet and tail were still twitching in a way more like an animal dreaming than like shock waves of the death running through a nervous system which hadn't fully shut down yet, making him frown.

At that moment, a pair of Blood Tastes—though one was black, not the red of a normal Blood Taste—jumped at him from behind, so he spun rapidly to strike them down with blows which should have gouged out their sides. Instead, the 'gouges' healed so rapidly they had been reduced to shallow lacerations in moments, and even those were healing rapidly. Rumbling from the Behemoth's direction made him turn to face it, even as it became more mobile and began trying to push itself up.

Zack sighed at that. "Looks like I won't be getting a meal _or_ going after the small fries anytime soon, will I, big guy?"

The Behemoth, having largely recovered and faced him again by then, roared and jumped at him, so he darted toward its unprotected chest and belly, slicing both open. He jumped back as it collapsed again, but the same thing happened to the wound as the twitching started up again, and this time, he tried to attack it while it was still down, finding how his blade just bounced off it. He had to divert momentarily to kill the Blood Tastes again, and found the same trend with them, too. Oddly enough, the smog in the area seemed to have gone down substantially.

 _What_?

Either way, he had to report to Lazard about the similarity to the monster in the Turks' report, so while he had a bit of a reprieve during the Behemoth's and Blood Tastes' recovery, he pulled out his PHS and dialed the SOLDIER Director's number. Soon after, the man answered with, "Was there something you needed to report, First Fair?"

"Yeah. I was on my way back from my last mission when a few dozen crates near the Sector Five train station broke open and released a bunch of monsters which just won't die. One of them's a Behemoth, so I have to stay on it or it'll rip a hole in the city. I think they're _all_ the same as the ones from the monster report the Turks sent over to us, and the problem is that there's no way I can go after all the small fries until the Behemoth stays down," Zack explained, eyes on the Behemoth's twitching paws warily as their movement range increased.

After a momentary pause, Lazard replied, "I'll see who I can send to help you, and yes, please focus on the Behemoth, as you're right to say it's the most dangerous one."

"Yeah, thanks," the black haired young man agreed, then hung up and pocketed the phone as he faced the rising Behemoth, then looked back at the Blood Tastes as snarling sounded behind him. "Take a hike, would you?" he asked them.

They snarled again and jumped at him.

He cut them down again, then shrugged and commented to no one, "I didn't really think it would be so easy, but I could hope."

It was the Behemoth's turn to jump at him, so he faced it and braced himself, knowing monsters could learn—he knew if it wouldn't die in one blow, his fight was bound to get progressively harder as it went. "This is going to be a _looong_ day," he sighed as he caught the Behemoth's horns on his sword.

SH

As he stepped off the airship on one of the landing strips built off the end of the Sector 1 Plate, Kariya smiled, happy to be home. It would be good to rest while Balto took his watch, and he'd have time to visit with his kids this time, too. Well, with Shalua and Shelke, as Genesis was still off on a world tour with Rufus. Since he was in no hurry to get anywhere, he moved at a relaxed pace and meandered his way through Sector 1 towards Shinra Headquarters—but on his way, something in the city began to change. What made him start paying attention to it was the way it sounded like chaos, destruction, and screams, but there was no one direction any of it was coming from.

Near him, some people ran by from side streets, being chased by monsters—and a small Infantry patrol intercepted the monsters. It seemed the monsters were made out of tougher stuff than normal, though, because they got back up again from bullet wounds which should have killed them. Towards the city core and in the direction of the Sector 1 and Sector 8 border, Kariya heard a great deal more noise of destruction than he had a moment before. Since the monsters in his immediate vicinity were less difficult to handle (Evil Eyes, Blood Tastes, Epiolnises, and Funny Faces), he left those to the patrol unit and headed for the major noise.

It didn't take him long to reach a corner in view of the destruction—where he had to stop and stare. There was a _Behemoth_ in the middle of the street, holding a car battery in its mouth while ignoring three Destroyers as they poked around in the rubble left behind by the Behemoth on its way to its current location. A look down the large monster's path showed that it had pretty much bulldozed every building in a straight line between...the Sector 1 train station?...and its current location. Yes, it was the train station he could barely see at the end of path.

A Behemoth. On Midgar's Upper Plate. He knew there was a herd in the Sector 8 Slums bordering no-man's-land between Sectors 8 and 1, but not on the Upper Plate.

With a motion, a bomb dropped from his sleeve into his hand, and he very deliberately paced forward in the Behemoth's full view so he could attract its attention. The ploy worked, causing the monster to drop the battery and turn to face him with a snarl. As it jumped at him, he dodged its claws and stuffed the bomb in its open mouth as it tried to bite him, intending to make quick work of it. The resulting explosion came as he landed after jumping back, and it was a satisfying sound, given how that one should even have done in a Dragon Zombie.

Except, as he watched in shock, the explosion damage nearly entirely reversed itself in moments, even as the monster collapsed to the ground, twitching like it was only dreaming. The remaining surface lacerations were healing more slowly, but it definitely wasn't dead. When he threw another bomb at it to try to finish the job, the explosion glanced off it without harming it—and he sighed.

"So these are Reno's hard-to-kill buddies," he commented.

The Behemoth was getting more mobile already, so he had to make a decision quickly. His best bet was to call Tseng, so he pulled out his PHS and dialed the younger man's number—which was answered as the monster jumped at him with an almost painfully loud roar. On pure instinct honed by decades in battle, he slipped his PHS into his pocket as he dodged away from the Behemoth's attack, shoving another bomb in its mouth as he did. A moment later, as he was just landing outside the monster's claw range, the explosion sounded, followed by a half-roar as it collapsed again. Knowing it would be down for at least a bit of time—hopefully long enough to talk with Tseng—he pulled his PHS out of his pocket again and held it to his ear.

Knowing Tseng would still be on the line, he said in a clipped tone, "Just thought you'd like to know there's a shit-load of monsters which just won't die running around the city, and the big nasty I'm fighting right now is a Behemoth. And no, I'm _not_ going to use my plasma bomb (11) in the middle of the Sector One Plate."

"Monsters which won't die? Like the one Reno fought before in the Slums?" the younger man asked sharply.

"Yeah, probably," Kariya agreed. "You'd better get all the backup you can into the city, though. Now, I'm off since I've gotta focus on this fight." He then hung up and faced the Behemoth again as it began to recover and move a little more than just twitching.

He could only hope it would die before he ran out of bombs—and the interference of the Destroyers was an unwelcome addition to the situation, making him sigh as he thanked every deity and Summon he could that Turk policy was to keep a spare weapon on hand at all times. His handgun was about to get _a lot_ of use.

 **Notes:**

Monster Legend Part 1 (monsters introduced this chapter):

(1) Abyss Worm (Experiment 115), found in the Slums

(2) Funny Face (Experiment 118), found on the Upper Plate and in the Slums

(3) Sahagin (Experiment 112), found in Shinra Headquarters and in the Slums

(4) Blood Taste/Dark Nation^ (Experiment 97/122^), found in Shinra Headquarters, on the Upper Plate, and in the Slums

(5) Evil Eye (Experiment 111), found on the Upper Plate and in the Slums

(6) Evilgoyle (Experiment 119), found on the Upper Plate and in the Slums

(7) Death Claw (Experiment 116), found in the Slums

(8) Behemoth (Experiment 88/110), found on the Upper Plate

(9) Epiolnis (Experiment 117), found on the Upper Plate

(10) Destroyer (Experiment 120), found in Shinra Headquarters and on the Upper Plate

Monster Legend Part 2 (monsters to be introduced later):

* Makonoid (Experiment 121), found in Shinra Headquarters

* Ifrit (Experiment 113), found in Shinra Headquarters

* Qliphoth (Sephiroth Clone, Experiment 124), found in Shinra Headquarters

All of the monsters in this list have many multiples except for 4 of them. There are 10 Makonoids, 2 Behemoths, and 1 each of Ifrit and Qliphoth. I just HAD to give 'Experiment 124' a name after how he's been modified, and since the Qliphoth is 'the refuse of the Sephiroth' based on Hebrew 'Tree of Life' data, I figured Hojo would be twisted enough to use that as his 'name' after what he named Sephiroth.

Don't worry, the three 'monsters' in the 'Part 2' list will show up later in this scenario.

^Dark Nation here isn't referring to the enemy in Crisis Core which ended up being a breed of Hound-type monster called a Dark Nation, this means Hojo took samples from Dark Nation, Rufus' pet black Blood Taste, and began using them in his experiments. This occurred when Dark Nation was injured and Hojo was ordered to treat him. There is no 'breed' of Hound called a 'Dark Nation' in my story, though a similar creature will show up later (the Cerberus, which has the same color pallet as Dark Nation and this Experiment). For now, no one knows much about the Cerberus, and they sure as Hell don't have samples of it—they barely know it exists.

(11) For anyone who doesn't realize this, the kind of bomb Kariya is thinking about here is very small, but about as powerful as a nuke—if he sets it off in Midgar, he'll single-handedly incinerate a large part of the city and drop the rest. As much as it would incinerate the Behemoth, it would also be highly counter-productive.


	58. 54-MiM: Insanity

**A/N:** Since I know this is going to come up, here's a quick list of the people of note who are in Midgar right now:

Turks: Tseng, Alvis, Reno, Emma, Riha, Ruluf, Maur, Illis/returning Turks: Kariya, Vant

SOLDIER: Lazard (non-combatant), Sephiroth, Sora, Zack, Anthony, Cloud, (others, including Sebastian from Before Crisis and Luxiere)

Execs: President Shinra, Heidegger, Hojo, Palmer, weapons head, Winry

Other employees: Deepground Doctors Kedran and Blythe, Lunaria Valentine, Jessie, Biggs, Kain Fuery, (others)

Civilians: Elmyra Gainsborough, 'the kids' (Elena, Tifa, Al, Mei, Shalua, Shelke, Yufi, Evan, the 13-year-old experiment), (others), Izumi, Naomi, Ken

Gaia's Refuge: Felicia, Shears, Mick, (others, approx. half of their total members)

Other: Amal (merc), Liam (Infantry)

Various unnamed Infantry/mercenaries/criminals

Monsters in Midgar: Insanity

Midgar.

It was a city of hope, dreams, comfort, advancement. So Shinra proclaimed, and so the uninitiated believed when they first arrived there.

It didn't take long for the dreams of the new hopefuls to shrivel up and die in the face of the reality of Shinra's cruel and ruthless rule hidden behind a genial facade. The city was full of darkness, depravity, and a massive underbelly (literally and figuratively) of crime, vice, poverty, and suffering. Much of that was Shinra's doing directly, but some of it was the doing of the people bred in that cesspit.

Tseng sighed as he rubbed his eyes and asked himself again why so many human traffickers thought they should take up the job when, if he was completely honest with himself, Shinra held the monopoly on the 'slave trade', too. He was starting to see Eden's point about stopping the massive degree of suffering in the world. To that end, the 'gifts' Eden had sent from Wutai for SOLDIER, the Turks, and Reeve had all been getting quite a workout, just in the time since they had arrived. Sometimes, he wasn't sure if something was praising him or mocking him, though, for Eden to have sent him the jeweled tiger statue with the odd note he had. It had said the blond had planned to give it to him from the start, but the Emperor had explicitly stated said statue rightfully belonged to the Wutain Turk. The tiger was now sitting on a shelf in the corner of the room, but far more valuable to him were the two gems he'd gotten Weapons to make slots for on his gun, a milky white one and a dark blue one.

At that moment, his thoughts were interrupted by his PHS ringing to let him know he had a text message, and by the ring tone, it was from Felicia, so he opened it to check what it said—and he blinked in surprise as he read: _Monsters which won't die in the Slums, all Sectors, minimum estimate per Sector = 100, send help or find weakness_

Before he could answer, his PHS actively rang to let him know he had a caller, so he checked the caller ID, then answered it to ask, "What—"

He didn't get any further than that before a roar blasted through his phone, followed by an explosion, then another, weaker roar. A moment later, the man who had called him said in a clipped tone, "Just thought you'd like to know there's a shit-load of monsters which just won't die running around the city, and the big nasty I'm fighting right now is a Behemoth. And no, I'm _not_ going to use my plasma bomb in the middle of the Sector One Plate." It was Kariya—a clearly displeased Kariya.

"Monsters which won't die? Like the one Reno fought before in the Slums?" the younger man asked sharply, getting up to go to his office window.

"Yeah, probably," Kariya agreed. "You'd better get all the backup you can into the city, though. Now, I'm off since I've gotta focus on this fight." He then hung up, even as Tseng stared down at the scene below him in shock, absently hanging up and pocketing his phone.

The city always seemed to have rather dim lighting and a green haze hanging over it, even on the clearest of days, and the neon lights scattered over the shining gray of the city always seemed somewhat dimmed by it. Now, there were streams of dark smoke rising from several areas where the neon lights had gone out and the gray shone clearly in bright sunlight. There were literal patches clear of Mako smog in all the damaged areas, and while he could see movement across much of the city, the details were blurred at his distance. Of everything he _could_ see, the attack and damage happening all around the city was most of it.

He could guess the flying shapes were Evil Eyes and Evilgoyles, and some of the fires in the city could have been Bombs (or their relatives), but those would be bad enough if they were in the category of 'just won't die', and to add to that a Behemoth...

What was the Lower Plate really like if this was the state of the Upper Plate?

Suddenly, he felt the Shinra building rock as the sound of an explosion reached him, causing him to reach out to grip the windowsill until it passed—and until the sense of vertigo it had produced in conjunction with him looking out the window passed. His eyes closed as he realized the monster assault wasn't just in the city, it was in the building as well. Even for the number of people who were there, they'd been so overworked lately that they were all going into this while running on fumes.

Well, there was nothing for it—it had to be done.

Pulling out his PHS again as he headed for his office door, he saw Emma open it as she was about to likely ask for orders. "I'm aware of the situation," he said as he shooed her out and stepped into the main office behind her.

"And the situation?" she asked.

All the Turks who were there looked to him to wait for further instruction, so he told Emma, and the rest by extension, the situation as he knew it, "Monsters like the one Reno fought in the Sector Eight Slums are running around the city—lots of them, on the Upper and Lower Plates, and right here in this building. That is, these ones don't die easily, so I hope you all read and _paid attention_ to Reno's report. First and foremost, Emma, go alert the Infantry to the situation and make sure all hands are armed and out there fighting. I need to coordinate with Lazard before anything else, so the rest of you will have to wait for orders."

"Right. I'll be back after doing that unless you give me other orders before I return," Emma answered, then ran from the office.

The Wutain gave a small nod in her direction as he dialed Lazard's number—which was answered almost immediately with, "I'm guessing we're under attack. What do you know as of now?"

"The city and building are under siege from monsters like the one from the report I gave you not long ago," Tseng replied. "I sent Emma to issue a call-to-arms to the Infantry, but unfortunately, we need _everyone_ , rested or not, because this ranges from the Slums to the Upper Plate to here. Have you gotten any reports about such monsters from any of the SOLDIERs on missions in the city?"

"Zack is apparently fighting a Behemoth just outside the Sector Five train station, and I've had a call from Amal in Sector Four telling me there are a few dozen monsters just in his area. I haven't heard anything from the others who were out in the Slums doing more monster cleanup," Lazard shared. "Of course, that could be because they're too busy with the sheer number of attackers."

"There are _two Behemoths_ on the Upper Plate...?" Tseng asked tiredly as the other Turks traded alarmed looks. He rubbed his eyes and mentally tapped the blue illusion stone he now had on him. With its advice, he asked, "Who do you have immediately present?"

"Sephiroth and Sora, a few other Firsts, most of the new Thirds, and a few Seconds. There are ones resting who I can call. Angeal is escorting Reeve in Gongaga, so even if I called him, there's no way he'd get back in time to be useful," the other man said.

"Fine. You're a non-combatant, so you'll have to coordinate from our office with help from the cameras to know where you need to send people to. I'll initially leave Reno in his office here so he can let you into our command center again, and Sephiroth can help you get here. I need Sora to meet me at the stairs while I do my required rounds to check on the executives, and once you're here, our best bet to stabilize this place is for Sephiroth to start clearing upwards from here, then back down. I'll give Emma further orders to go help Zack since she'll be near him to rouse the barracks. For the rest of your people, spread them out around the city Sectors, both Upper and Lower, and have some stay here on lower floors, like the hospital and Academy floors, to protect them."

"I'll work on that, then head over. It shouldn't take long. Expect to see Sora shortly, and good luck," Lazard agreed, then hung up.

Tseng immediately ended the call and dialed Emma's number, which she answered with, "What do you need, Sir?"

"When you're done with the Infantry, head over to the Sector Five train station so you can help Zack manage a Behemoth," he told her. "From there, any further orders you get should come from Lazard unless you take independent action, which I'll authorize all the Turks to do in this situation."

"Got it," she agreed, then hung up.

He also ended his call and looked up at the others as he found the 'call addresses' for text messages to all the Turks currently known to be in Midgar so he could send them all approval for independent action, which was Turk code for, "If you see something you know needs to get done, do it, regardless of orders from anyone else except me."

While he was typing, he said, "So, you've heard a few basics. Reno, you'll have to stay in your office until Lazard gets here, but after that, I need you to head for the Sector Eight Slums to help get things under control there. What you do from that starting point is up to you by the terms of independent action." With a nod, the red haired eighteen-year-old who now wasn't covering the scars on his cheekbones below the corners of his eyes quickly left the Turks' main office.

As he sent the message of independent action—which were nearly all viewed immediately—he noted the others in the room, Maur, Alvis, Riha, and Ruluf. "Maur, Kariya is also fighting a Behemoth, his on the Sector One Plate. I would hazard a guess and say the train station would be a good starting point to find him. Go give him a hand, first and foremost." The large, brown haired man with a bit of a beard nodded and left as he tugged on black gloves.

Turning to the others, Tseng began, "Alvis, head down to the Sector One Slums—it, with Eight, are the two least-defended Sectors and will benefit most from Pyramid. Make sure you report back on the state of things so Lazard will know he'll have to send more help to that Sector if it's needed." With a nod, Alvis headed out, so he looked at Ruluf and Riha. "Most of the Academy combat students don't have the experience or the gall to start attacking random monsters, and there are plenty of non-combatants there. Ruluf, focus your attention on the Academy primarily, and Riha, go with him initially, but stop by our storage for a proper, high-powered sniper rifle. We'll need you as support in that capacity for this, so finding places to snipe from in the city will actually be your primary objective. Report to Lazard unless you absolutely need my input for something."

"Right," both agreed, heading into the hall—and yelping as something tore and fell. Gunshots rang out as Tseng joined them, but all he saw was a flash of something as it ripped a hole in the floor below it and fell. A glance upward showed a similar hole in the ceiling above and about a foot in front of the other two Turks, who both had a gun out and had attacked the monster.

"Good job," he commented in amusement, giving them a wave as he turned to head for the stairs. He heard snorts of amusement from both as they made their way around the hole.

He sighed as he realized that likely meant their hidden space was going to be a mess by the time this was over, and he just hoped the monsters weren't going to ruin their paper trails. It didn't take him long to get to the stairs, and he'd passed a couple other holes on the way, but not many—wasn't that a bit strange? As he stepped into the stairwell, Sora was just coming up from below, so he headed upward as she joined him with a nod.

"So, where do we begin?" the woman asked.

"As much as I'd like to say 'the next floor up', regulation says we have to head to the President's Office first and work our way down. For once, I'm extremely glad neither Reeve nor Rufus are here right now, but Winry's well-being worries me. If we _don't_ go right to the President first, he'll know something's wrong, and I don't want to give him ammunition." Tseng then paused and blinked as he repeated, "Ammunition!" and pulled out his PHS to call the head of the Weapons Development Department.

When the other man answered, he said, "We have a monster crisis going on in both the building and all Sectors of the city, and your department has plenty of weapons and ammunition, so start pulling out the big guns to fight them off." When he had agreement from the man, he hung up and pocketed his PHS again. They had kept moving upward the whole time.

It didn't take them long to step out onto floor sixty-nine—which both immediately saw was devoid of life, but there were no monsters, no holes in the floor or ceiling, and no signs of battle or struggle. Trading wary looks as they both realized this was very strange, the two headed across the lobby to the last set of stairs leading to the President's Office.

When they were about three quarters of the way across it, a voice snarled from behind them, "You Wutain bastards! You're here to attack the President, aren't you?" Both turned in surprise to see Heidegger near the elevator doors with a shotgun in his hands, a shotgun pointed at them.

"Mr. Heidegger, this attack is being perpetrated by monsters, not humans, and I'm here as the Director of the Turks to verify the well-being of all present executives, beginning with the President, as per regulation. I asked Commander Kagawa to assist me in case there were multiple monsters or ones as powerful as Behemoths," Tseng replied evenly, wondering what in the world was wrong with the man. He'd known the man didn't like Wutains, but Heidegger was normally very practical and reacted to what was in front of him. Unless it was just because he hadn't seen or heard anything of the monsters, so assumed it was humans—Wutains because he loathes them—causing it...

"A likely story!" Heidegger sneered, pacing closer to them. "Now get down on your knees and beg for mercy like the dogs you are! Down, I say! Kneel and learn your place or I'll kill you slowly and painfully!"

"Sir, we need to be sure the—" Tseng began calmly and respectfully.

The next thing he knew, Sora's weight slumped against him as the shotgun went off and his ears began ringing. He reached up to catch her as she fell, causing both of them to drop to the floor on their knees, the woman still leaning on him—which wasn't normal for a SOLDIER, let alone one formerly from Deepground. Looking down at her back, he was able to see a large, ragged hole surrounded by singed cloth, causing him to realize the shotgun was loaded with explosive cartridges, not buckshot.

As Heidegger shook his head to clear it (it was some comfort to know the man was in no shape to act again, either), Tseng cast a Full Cure on Sora to allow the wound to heal faster. She stayed leaning against him, just using the fingers of one hand to trace an old, Wutain code on his hip to thank him and tell him to hide her recovery. She had a point, as not only would Heidegger thinking she was still injured likely cool some of his anger, but it would give the Turk and SOLDIER the advantage of surprise.

Before anything further could happen, around the time all their ears stopped ringing, a new, royally angry voice yelled, "What in the world is _this_ all about?" They all looked up to see President Shinra standing part-way down the stairs leading to his office, glaring at them. "What in the world did you do to the Commander and Director, Heidegger?"

"I just put those filthy Wutains in their place, where they belong!" the head of the Public Safety Department hollered.

"We already own them, and they've performed well and loyally, Heidegger. They also have work to do, work _you've_ just hindered!" Shinra replied with another glare.

"They still have too much power! All of them have too much power, and I can't believe you made an agreement like that with their Emperor! You haven't enslaved and collared them like you swore we'd do, you haven't even put them down in shame and submission with the war, you let them get away with changing nothing at all! They aren't slaves or under your control, so I'm going to make them learn their place, starting with these two!" Heidegger barked out angrily, pointing his shotgun at the two Wutains again.

Was Heidegger even _sane_ after going on a—frankly shocking—rant like that? (1)

"I had always assumed you were speaking figuratively when you said you wanted them enslaved and collared, not literally," the President replied in a disgusted and disappointed tone. "You're demanding something which is not and never truly has been beneficial to us, and with Godo's proposal, I gained my power over them and their land. I won't jeopardize the benefits to the agreement for the sake of you and your dog collars, Heidegger, because they're of more value to me on their feet than on their knees. I thought you knew that?"

A long silence fell, then Heidegger gave a barking laugh and said, "So even you're too weak to take the power of a Master over them." His gun began moving.

At that moment, the blue illusion stone triggered, showing Tseng that Heidegger meant to shoot the President, so he purposefully activated the white illusion stone to slow all the time around him without slowing himself. It was the reverse effect of a Slow or Haste spell, and he was deliberately modifying the flow of time so he had just enough time to draw his gun and point it. He wasn't very good at manipulating the effect yet, so he was only barely going to be able to make the shot—but he was able to shoot the man between the eyes only a moment before he'd pulled the trigger on his shotgun.

All at once, the explosion sounded, causing him and Sora to both yelp and clap their hands over their ears as the President shouted in alarm and ducked, arms shielding his head. At the same time, Heidegger's body fell heavily to the floor and stilled. There was a hole in the wall beside the President, showing just how close Tseng had cut it, but also that he'd managed to successfully divert the shot. All three stayed down, covering their ears or head as they waited for the ringing in their ears to fade, all while ignoring Heidegger's body.

When the elevator opened, they all heard the noise from it and looked up to see Vant step off—and stop to stare. The others recovered and rose, Tseng saying to the older Turk, "Heidegger tried to kill the President over the deal he made with Wutai."

"...I see," Vant agreed. "Now, since you didn't answer you PHS and we're in the middle of a crisis, what do you need me to do?"

"That's right, what in Shiva's name is going on here?" the President asked angrily. "First, Hojo runs cackling through my office and disappears onto the roof, then the building rocks, then Heidegger tries to kill me! What's next, a meteor falling on the city?" (2)

Tseng, Vant, and Sora all stood there staring at him in shock—which quickly became dawning realization for Tseng and Vant. "Mr. President, there are abnormal monsters assaulting the city and building, and after hearing you mention the Professor's behavior, there's a good chance they're the results of his latest experiments. With your permission, I'll send Vant to check on Hojo, then retreat to your personal defense while the Commander and I check on the other executives present right now."

"Since there are no monsters up here, feel free to do as you wish," the President replied, then turned and headed back up the stairs. He called back on his way, "Oh, and do something about the body's mess soon, too!"

Tseng sighed tiredly as Vant started after the President, but the Wutain called softly after the older Turk, "Vant, try to find out what he did to the monsters to make them so bloody hard to kill, then find an opportune moment to eliminate him. We _can't_ afford to have something like this happen to Midgar _again_."

Vant turned his head to meet the Wutain's dark eyes and gave a single nod, then faced forward again, all without pausing. As he went, Tseng pulled out his PHS to send him the note about Turks operating on independent action currently, and found that the man checked it right away.

As he put his phone away, Sora asked, "So, now we work our way down from here, yes?"

"Are you healed enough for that?" Tseng asked in reply, knowing an explosive shot like the ones Heidegger had been using could even kill SOLDIERs at point-blank range, which was nearly how close the man had been to her.

"With your Full Cure, yes," the woman nodded. "Shall we?"

Nodding, the man agreed, "That's the best bet. Also, right below us is the Science Department floors, and some of Hojo's assistants may know the monsters' weakness." The two turned towards the stairs again since they were fairly certain they would still be free of monsters, hopeful either they or Vant would have a solution to the problem soon. "By the way...why did you take the shot meant for me?"

"Really?" she asked him with a raised brow, and Tseng just stared at her. Sora gave a small grin and said, "Very simply, SOLDIERs are built like tanks—no matter what kind of damage it is, we stand a better chance of surviving than a normal human like you does. Of _course_ I would take the shot meant for you."

"I see. Then, thank you for that," he told her, the gratitude in his voice. She gave a nod and a small smile in reply.

 **Notes:**

(1) Bear with me with this—I know Heidegger's reactions are extreme here, even for him, and there IS a reason for this. They just won't be able to find out why he 'went insane' until they have a chance to search his residence and office after this mess is resolved, so everyone will have to wait on that. After all, they have to save the city, first.

(2) Of course, if this had been the original timeline, that question would have been prophetic rather than mere irritation. :P :D


	59. 55-MiM: Weakness

Monsters in Midgar: Weakness

Since Rude had arrived to replace him on his watch, Vant headed back to Midgar to report in and get a new assignment. It didn't take him long to get there, and with his capabilities, he made quick work of climbing up the outside of one of the Reactor supports, the one for Sector 2 he realized as he headed away from it and into the Sector. His route to the Shinra building was calm, though he was sure some event or other was starting up somewhere else in the city. With the smoke rising from several places across the Plate, he was sure it couldn't be good, so he picked up his pace to Headquarters, intent on finding out what was going on and what he could do to help.

He reached the building in record time, using the elevator from the lobby to reach the Turks' floor—but it was while he was on the glass elevator that he realized what was going on, and he could only watch in horror. In Sector 1, not that far away, a Behemoth rampaged as three Destroyers followed in its wake and several Blood Tastes (including a few black ones), an Epiolnis, and four Funny Faces assaulted people, buildings, power lines, garbage bins—even _rats_. Another Destroyer floated by the building's main doors as it chased a stray dog, but the building defenses activated and the machine gun turrets attacked it, and several Evil Eyes and a couple Evilgoyles flew by his rising, glass-covered viewing pad.

The city was being assaulted by monsters and there were a huge number of people fighting them (on the Plate, he could see SOLDIERs, at least one Turk, Infantry, criminals, stray Academy students, and even some civilians)—and making very little headway. Of all things, _Blood Tastes shouldn't_ have been so strong.

When he reached his destination, the office was empty and there were holes in the floors and ceilings, so he headed for the command center. As he turned the corner on the hall, he almost ran into Reno, who said, "Tseng headed for the President's Office, yo. Try callin' him for orders." The red haired Turk then passed him, heading for the elevator himself. "Oh, an' if you're in need o' somethin' else ta do after whatever Tseng starts ya off with, call in to Lazard, yo!" Reno called back as he went.

Pulling out his PHS, Vant dialed Tseng's number—only for it to ring for over a minute with no answer. With a frown, he pocketed his phone, then went back to the elevator, that time to head for floor sixty-nine, the highest floor the elevator could reach. He had to wait for it to get back, but the trip was smooth and quick from there.

Only for the doors to open on a scene he never expected to see. In the middle of the lobby, Heidegger lay dead on his back, and several feet further away, Sora and Tseng were kneeling on the floor facing one another with the back of the woman's uniform singed around a large, ragged hole. At least her skin looked largely unharmed, but both had their hands over their ears. Past the two of them, he could see the President crouched on the stairs with his arms over his head while there was a hole in the wall beside the man and some debris scattered around him. All three living humans looked at him, then rose.

"Heidegger tried to kill the President over the deal he made with Wutai," Tseng told him. It went without saying that Heidegger was also the reason for Sora's wound, too.

"...I see," Vant replied, thankful the bastard had given them a legitimate excuse to openly and blatantly kill him. "Now, since you didn't answer you PHS and we're in the middle of a crisis, what do you need me to do?"

"That's right, what in Shiva's name is going on here?" the President asked angrily. "First, Hojo runs cackling through my office and disappears onto the roof, then the building rocks, then Heidegger tries to kill me! What's next, a meteor falling on the city?"

Tseng, Vant, and Sora all stood there staring at him in shock—which quickly became dawning realization for Tseng and Vant as they both realized where the monsters had come from. Tseng said, "Mr. President, there are abnormal monsters assaulting the city and building, and after hearing you mention the Professor's behavior, there's a good chance they're the results of his latest experiments. With your permission, I'll send Vant to check on Hojo, then retreat to your personal defense while the Commander and I check on the other executives present right now."

"Since there are no monsters up here, feel free to do as you wish," the President replied, then turned and headed back up the stairs. He called back on his way, "Oh, and do something about the body's mess soon, too!"

Tseng sighed tiredly as Vant moved to go after the President, wondering why they had to get rid of any mess when it would likely dissolve into pyreflies by the time the monster attack was over. Tseng called softly after the older Turk, "Vant, try to find out what he did to the monsters to make them so bloody hard to kill, then find an opportune moment to eliminate him. We _can't_ afford to have something like this happen to Midgar _again_."

To show he'd heard and would do as asked, he met the Wutain's gaze with a single nod before focusing forward again, all without having stopped walking. _It's finally time,_ was his grim thought as he ascended the stairs. As he reached the top of them, he received a text message, so checked it—to find he also had the state of independent action on his side. He glanced over at the President on his way to the balcony door and noted how the older man was already back at his paperwork, causing him to mentally sneer at the sheer lack of care for others President Shinra had.

Outside on the balcony, Vant turned to look up at the roof above Shinra's office. He could hear Hojo cackling and calling out, "Yes, my beautiful experiments, show them your power! Strike fear into their hearts!"

When he went back to cackling, Vant sighed and wondered how the man had ever been classed as sane—or, at least, sane enough to give dangerous toys to. Another look and a walk around the side of the building revealed a stair leading to the rooftop, so he walked up it, peering around for Hojo. The rooftop, like the balcony, was large enough for a helicopter to land there, but there was no official mark for it and there wasn't one sitting there right then. Other than where the stairs were, the whole rooftop was surrounded by a two-foot-high wall which was about a foot and a half wide, and there was a vent pipe in one corner, pointing away from the stairs.

And on the two-foot wall directly across from the stairs, Hojo stood facing out over the city with his arms spread and his feet parted to brace him against the wind blowing in both their faces. With his hair and lab coat streaming behind him, the man looked positively demonic.

It would be so easy to just give him a little push—but then they'd never get the answers they needed.

As such, Vant moved over to sit on the two-foot wall running perpendicular to the one Hojo was on, placing himself about seven feet away and silently drawing his PHS so he could begin a text message to Tseng—one he'd only send when he had his answer. He then placed it on the wall beside him, out of Hojo's view if the man happened to turn around, as it would be hidden by his thigh.

"So, I'm guessing those monsters out there are indeed your creations, Professor?" he asked in a neutral tone.

The mad cackling stopped as Hojo snorted, "So the Turk finally speaks!" He then went on in a rather loving (for him, anyway) tone, "Of course they are! I'm so sure I've found the way to continue the SOLDIER program, even without Jenova or Sephiroth directly, which is entirely worthy of celebrating, don't you think?" It didn't escape Vant's attention that Hojo had apparently known someone was there without facing them, and not just 'someone', but a _Turk_. Was it normal for scientists to be as aware of their surroundings as combat personnel, without even looking to see 'who' it was?

"And how did they get out into the city, Professor?"

"Oh, that was because I let them out to stretch their legs and spread their wings, like any good pet owner would do."

The description of the experiments being 'pets' turned his stomach, but he tossed those feelings aside for the moment to ask, "What made you think releasing deadly monsters on civilian streets was a good idea?"

"Two reasons, Turk. One is to see their actual natural behaviors and abilities, and the other...Well, they sure make a good distraction, don't they?" There was a clear smirk in Hojo's voice.

"A...distraction?"

"Of course."

The creepy chuckling was back, and Vant had more immediate need to find out their weakness than what they were a distraction _for_ , so he commented, "They sure do take _a lot_ of work to take out. I can't help but wonder where they get their strength from." He silently picked up his PHS and got ready to start typing, hoping he'd get an answer.

At his comment, Hojo's chuckle turned into a laugh, then silenced for a moment before he smirked and said, "Mako energy is a wondrous thing! It's everywhere, all around us, especially here in Midgar. The smog is annoying, though."

Vant blinked, then blinked again as he remembered how Hojo loved to boast and didn't normally say actual random things when asked a question—even when it sounded random. As such, he began typing the message to Tseng: _Shut down the Reactors. That's where they're getting their strength from._

In the meantime, he had to distract Hojo from what he was doing just long enough to fully type the message and send it, so asked in a falsely irritable tone, "What does _that_ have to with anything?" He hoped Hojo would decide to boast like usual, to show his mental superiority. The longer Hojo talked, the longer he'd have to type and send.

Hojo laughed sharply again, then said, "Mako is a source of infinite power, Turk. Oh, I still needed small samples of one of my former subject's genes, but with cloning, that isn't as much of a hardship as I'd thought. No, it's singularly more troublesome that those two hack doctors from Deepground have been given charge of _my_ SOLDIER infusions and will only give me as much as I need for the known SOLDIERs scheduled for injections. Well, regardless, true genius can find a way around any situation, and I had other useful samples at hand.

"All it took was to give the monsters Mako injections and tweak their genes to absorb their necessary energy from sources of Mako energy—those Slum drugs, power lines, the smog, batteries, waste products. The result..." Hojo paused to give a content sigh, which was somehow more creepy than his chuckle, then finished, "And the final result was a subject showing enhanced regenerative abilities, fatal damage reversal, a recovery shield, and easily twice the strength, reflexes, and senses of a normal Mako enhancement. Truly a masterpiece of scientific innovation!"

Since Vant had just sent the message and the full scope of what Hojo had just said was actually horrifying (how was _any_ of that 'innovation'?), he reacted as expected and gasped in shock. What he didn't expect was that, a moment after he gasped, a _tentacle_ wrapped around his PHS and crushed it with ease, leaving him to stare at his now-empty hands, his broken PHS on the ground at his feet...And at the writhing, pastel purple and blood red mottled tentacle which had destroyed the device.

As the appendage withdrew, his eyes followed it—to Hojo as the man 'tsked' and said, "Now, no spoiling the fun, Turk." The tentacle retreated beneath the man's lab coat.

For a long moment, Vant stared at the man, trying to assess what him sprouting a _tentacle_ meant, then dropped his hands onto the wall beside him and asked warily, "Professor, since I assume you're aware of your extra appendage, where did you get it _from_?"

"Why, from Jenova, of course," Hojo replied with his trademark creepy chuckle, causing Vant to shiver. That answered _a lot_ of questions he'd had about the man, how he could do the things he did to other living beings. If he was his own experimental subject, his mindset and sanity (or lack thereof) were self-explanatory.

"...So you used yourself."

"Of course I did, you foolish whelp! How could I possibly know what uses, strengths, and weaknesses something had without first subjecting myself to it? Of course, there are times where that doesn't quite work or there are viable ways to study the effects without applying the product personally, but Jenova wasn't one of them. I'm so disappointed in Sephiroth, though. He had progressed so far, only to throw it all away before he could reach his full potential. That showed me a vital flaw in my experiments. There's no accounting for sentience, after all. Pity."

"Of course, that means you'd never have full control over _any_ living thing, Professor," Vant had to reply evenly, though internally, he felt quite rebellious. "No matter how hard you try. Not even your 'pets'."

The man went completely still, then spun and hopped down from the wall, only to storm across the rooftop, down the stairs, and back down to the President's Office, saying as he went, "We'll just see about that, Turk!" Vant followed him quickly, internally snickering over how he'd hit one of Hojo's soft spots.

As Hojo made to leave the office, Vant got in his way and said, "With the rampaging monsters, I can't let you leave until someone else is here to stay with the President or go with you." No, they _didn't_ want Hojo to go 'help' his creations wreck even more havoc, so he wasn't going to let him leave.

With a glare, the mad scientist began, "But they—"

"Sit down and shut up so Vant can do his job and I can do mine!" the President barked irritably from his desk.

"And what 'job' would that be?" the scientist asked with a sneer. "Signing off on yet another resort when you just got one?"

The President looked up at Hojo with a glare which made both men think of the phrase 'if looks could kill.' "Thanks to _someone_ letting _your_ experiments out into the building and city, _I_ have to sign off on funds to clean up the mess, both now and after they've been dealt with. You're easily costing me a billion gil in just dealing with the monsters right at this moment, so don't try my patience, because you're already treading on very thin ice, Hojo."

Sufficiently cowed by the words, Hojo hunched his shoulders and moved over to the seating area at the back of the President's Office, though his mind was clearly—elsewhere—by his absent expression as he sat. It wasn't yet an 'opportune time' to kill Hojo (would it even be possible to do so without resorting to Chaos?), so Vant took up a guard position near the door and where he could see both men. The President had gone back to his paperwork by then, so wasn't paying any attention to the other two men in the room.

And why did it feel like there was a fourth presence in the room, one besides the President, Hojo, and himself? There were no visual cues indicating someone, but as a Turk, he knew there were blind spots in the room, and he couldn't move from his position without making them suspicious.

The thought crossed his mind as he settled in to wait that it was likely nearly everyone he knew was involved in this mess. He hoped Lunaria, Sephiroth, and Anthony—and all his other friends—were okay while he was safe in President Shinra's office...

SH

Tseng and Sora had needed a couple minutes upon entering floor sixty-eight to adapt to what they were seeing without losing their stomach contents.

Blood, gore, bits of skin, bone, innards, and cloth scraps.

It was scattered around an otherwise silent floor which should have been active and energetic. There were splatters stuck to walls, doors, containers, paperwork, desks, the floor—even the ceiling. Normally, a dead body would decompose into pyreflies, but with the bodies clearly torn apart, it looked like clean-up crews would have to handle _this_ with soap and water. Of course, with it being akin to a scene from a nightmare, Tseng had to wonder if _any_ of the department's doctors were still alive.

"What do we do now?" Sora asked him, expression drawn. That told him a great deal about how bad this actually was, as she had been exposed to more horrible things in her time with Deepground than he had ever seen.

Drawing in a deep breath, he steadied himself and said grimly, "We search the floor for signs of life, making our way towards the internal elevator between floors sixty-seven and sixty-eight."

It wasn't a very extensive search, but they were sure there weren't any living beings, human, monster, or animal, by the time they got to the elevator. In amongst the gore, they had seen several holes, and there had even been some bits which had looked pastel purple-ish or silvery white. What had produced _those_? Either way, it was dead and dismantled, whatever 'it' had once been, so they had simply kept going, approaching the blocked elevator with some care. It was open, but a large, cage-like shipping container had fallen over the door and one of the overhead lighting support beams had come down partway over the container, pinning it in place.

As they neared it, however, a familiar voice called from inside, "Tseng, thank Bahamut! I can't get out of here, and the others are trapped in their research offices below!"

The Wutain man paused for a moment as his PHS alerted him to an incoming text message, then called back to her, "Are you injured, Doctor Valentine?"

"No. I was just very lucky things fell in the way of the door to keep the monsters from bothering with me. The lift itself isn't damaged, but with the door stuck open by the shipping crate, it won't descend, and the maintenance hatch only leads into two feet of closed-in space with no exits," Lunaria Valentine replied, sounding both highly amused and equally as strained.

"Sora, do you think we can move the beam and shipping container?" Tseng asked.

For a moment, the woman examined the obstacles, then said, "We'd need to melt the top of the beam still attached to the ceiling, then use Ice or Quake on the wall near there to shove it outward. From there, if it doesn't fall on its own, I should be able to move it. We'll be able to push the container once the beam has been moved."

"Do you have Fire on you?" the Turk asked.

"I do," the SOLDIER agreed.

"Would you recommend Ice or Quake? I have both."

"Ice will do the least lasting damage."

"Fair enough. Doctor Valentine, back away from the door."

"Already done," the woman replied from inside the elevator.

It was the work of a couple minutes for Tseng and Sora to move the beam as they'd said—Ice 3 shoved it right off the container—then shove the metal container out of the elevator doorway, freeing Lunaria. Rather than step off it, she motioned the other two onto it with her, so once they'd stepped in, she sent it down to floor sixty-seven.

When the doors opened—it looked largely like the floor above, only with many more holes in the floor.

"Looks like someone's rendition of Nibel cheese (1)," Lunaria commented with a sigh. "It explains how everything got so quiet once the monsters ran out of easy things to kill up there, though."

"Do you know what happened?" Tseng asked as he checked the message he'd ignored earlier. It was from Vant, saying: _Shut down the Reactors. That's where they're getting their strength from._

"Hojo released the monsters from their cages on purpose to kill everyone—even Doctor Hollander is dead, along with all his assistants who knew the process he used on the monsters. I think he was hoping they would kill Doctors Blythe and Kedran, too, but he underestimated their paranoia. The section of the department we work in is—let's just say, even if they _could_ have gotten in, it would have been a lot easier for them to go elsewhere, because the floor of the main department is less sturdy than our walls and doors," the woman explained as she led them to a sealed door with another beam in front of it, the metal having twisted into an odd shape and partially melted to the door.

What had done _that_?

"Well, that sure puts a spin on things, and I wasn't imagining Hojo's deliberate involvement," Tseng sighed, finding Winry's PHS number and dialing it.

A few rings later, the harried-sounding fifteen-year-old asked sharply, "What are you bothering me for, Tseng? I have enough of my own problems!"

Ignoring her tone—it was completely understandable, after all—the man asked, "First, are there any monsters on your department floor?"

"There were until Biggs got back with some of Weapons' robo-soldiers. Otherwise, they seem to have lost interest in us. Was that all?" the younger woman asked.

"Hojo gave one of my Turks the monsters' weakness. I _need_ you to authorize the shut down of all of the city's Reactors." Lunaria and Sora both turned to stare at him with wide eyes.

"Shut down—wait, why does _that_ matter?" she asked, clearly puzzled.

"I don't have details, only the fact that the Reactors have to be shut down or we'll be fighting a losing battle. When they're defeated, you can start up the Reactors again."

Winry sighed in exasperation, then went silent for a moment before gasping, "The drains!" He blinked at what he thought was a sudden change in topic, but then the blond said, "Fine, so here's the thing. Even if I give approval, Reeve has been very closed-lipped about the location of 'Reactor Zero', so how will I be able to get to it to shut it down or to send someone to it to do so?"

With a sigh, Tseng rubbed his eyes and said, "I'll send Commander Kagawa to you shortly. She knows where it is and how to get to it. Collect what you need and issue whatever orders you need to in the meantime."

"I'll do that, then, but I'm going to take one other from my department with me. Don't take too long, though, or all the other monsters in the city will probably gravitate to Shinra Headquarters if that's the last Reactor running," the young woman replied, then hung up.

Tseng looked at Sora to say, "Once we get the door open here, you need to escort Miss Rockbell and one of her assistants to Reactor Zero."

"Tseng, no offense, but I think the Reactor is the more important thing right now," Lunaria commented in a dry tone, and Sora nodded her agreement. As Tseng opened his mouth to protest, she added, "They have everything they need for a few _days_ , even food. The door isn't in urgent need of being opened, but if what you said is true, the city _is_ in urgent need of a power outage so the monsters can be killed."

With a small sigh, the Wutain man relented with a nod. "Fine, then head out, Sora. The three of you will be stuck down there until we can turn the Reactor back on, since it powers this whole building, including the lift. You may want to take breathing masks with you, since we have no idea of the state of the toxins down there."

"Reeve was fine when he upgraded the Reactor, but he only went down there for short times over many days," Sora said. "A longer stay...I'll take some masks, then." She left the two there to go find the masks, then head for Winry's office.

"I have to keep on my rounds to check on the executives," Tseng told the woman with him.

"I'll go with you for now," Lunaria agreed, pulling out her PHS to let the other doctors know what was going on.

The pair then headed away from the gore on the Science Department floors.

 **Notes:**

(1) This would be Swiss cheese in our world. :P


	60. 56-MiM: Counterattack

Monsters in Midgar: Counterattack

It was the first time Winry was being left in charge of the Urban Development Department for several days, and she was now into her fourth day. So far, everything had been relatively calm, though they still had the issue with the drains to resolve. She could call Reeve if she needed to, but so far, nothing had come up which she couldn't handle, and she hoped nothing would.

A hope which was dashed as soon as their systems registered massive drains suddenly on _all_ the Reactors in the city. To further complicate matters, not only were they getting sudden drains, but sudden energy spikes as well, and both the Reactors and the electrical power stations around the city were being over-taxed by the rapid fluctuations. They weren't losing power (yet), but there was a good chance the stations would start blowing out soon, so they had to work hard to try to manually redirect the drains and spikes. The worried overtones from the Lifestream were starting to make sense.

At the worst spike, things got worse as they all felt Shinra Headquarters rock—and after a few more minutes, holes began appearing in the ceiling above them. Rather, strange monsters were ripping those holes before jumping down to the floor. She called them 'strange monsters' not because of what they were—all of them except some kind of slime monster were noted in the bestiary—but because they just wouldn't die.

When the monsters had first begun dropping onto that floor, Winry had taken the only action she really could have after Reeve had shown her the stores of high-powered rifles he'd installed in various places around the department after the Wutain Invasion. That action was to use the voice command codes to order all of them open, then to order the other engineers to pick up the nearest weapon and fight. She'd grabbed one herself as the others had hesitated, but as soon as she began shooting the monsters, everyone else got their acts together and followed her lead.

It had been a good thing, as it hadn't taken them long to realize the monsters just weren't dying, let alone all the other peculiarities, and she was suddenly glad she was dressed in her full engineering suit, with the top done up right to the neck. The others would have just given up—a few did, and were torn up and eaten—but because she didn't, most of the rest kept fighting. Until then, she'd never realized the kind of power a respected leader truly had, someone like General Armstrong, Brigadier General Mustang, General Sephiroth, or even someone like Rufus Shinra. Her own strength would have given out if she hadn't had the experiences she'd had in Amestris, with Ed and everyone there.

She realized it was her turn to be strong, to take the lead, until help came.

It didn't take long as Biggs, one of their other engineers who had been working on a joint project with Weapons at the time, arrived with a bunch of Weapons' robo-soldiers, all equipped with laser guns. The laser weapons had turned out to be more effective, but they'd still only killed three monsters before the rest followed their companions down to lower floors by ripping holes (more holes, rather) in their floor. Several had gone further down right away, including the strange, green, slime-like one, but at that point, their department pretty much cleared out of monsters.

Quickly, she told Biggs to take the robo-soldiers and go after the monsters, then ordered the rest of the department back to their stations for checks and readings on the energy flows and to start managing them again. She'd then added, "Oh, and keep your weapons on you, just in case."

As it turned out, the energy flows were a mess after several minutes of neglect, and everyone was working frantically to get a handle on them again when her PHS rang a few minutes later. She pulled it out to check the number, hoping she could ignore it, but when she saw Tseng's name, she knew she couldn't.

As strained and harried as she was, she knew it came out in her voice as she asked sharply, "What are you bothering me for, Tseng? I have enough of my own problems!" A few of the other engineers gaped at her in shock for talking to the Director of the Turks like that, but she had other things on her mind and not enough time to do everything in need of doing. She put the phone between her shoulder and ear so she could keep working with both hands.

"First, are there any monsters on your department floor?" the man asked, apparently ignoring her tone, or just not caring about it.

"There were until Biggs got back with some of Weapons' robo-soldiers. Otherwise, they seem to have lost interest in us. Was that all?" the younger woman asked, still working on the energy flows in front of her. If only they could manage them better!

"Hojo gave one of my Turks the monsters' weakness. I _need_ you to authorize the shut down of all of the city's Reactors," the man said, proving there was still more.

"Shut down—wait, why does _that_ matter?" she asked in confusion, pausing with a frown.

"I don't have details, only the fact that the Reactors have to be shut down or we'll be fighting a losing battle. When they're defeated, you can start up the Reactors again."

Winry let out an exasperated puff of air at the thought of having _even more_ work to do, then went silent for a moment before realization hit and she gasped, "The drains!" She leaned back from her computer as she realized the cause of those were the monsters, but that didn't explain the spikes. There was one other issue, though. "Fine, so here's the thing. Even if I give approval, Reeve has been very closed-lipped about the location of 'Reactor Zero', so how will I be able to get to it to shut it down or to send someone to it to do so?"

With a sigh, the Wutain told her, "I'll send Commander Kagawa to you shortly. She knows where it is and how to get to it. Collect what you need and issue whatever orders you need to in the meantime."

"I'll do that, then, but I'm going to take one other from my department with me. Don't take too long, though, or all the other monsters in the city will probably gravitate to Shinra Headquarters if that's the last Reactor running," the young woman replied, then hung up and eyed the fluctuations on the screen in front of her.

While he had given her a few answers, she now had a much bigger problem than the fluctuations, and the crux of the matter was that the fastest and least complicated way to shut down the Reactors—and start them back up again—was with Reeve's Master Code. Since she didn't have it already, as she'd only have been given it after she'd been with the Company for a certain amount of time (loyalty issues), the only way she could get it was by calling Reeve, even before she could give the order to the engineers working at the eight city Reactors. Either way, Reactor 0 was going to be the last one shut down, and she hoped Tseng and the others were prepared to deal with the monsters during the time gap.

With a sigh, she found Reeve's number and let it dial, almost wincing when he picked up and asked worriedly, "What's the matter, Winry?"

"I need the Master Code to shut down the Midgar Reactors."

"...You what?"

SH

Shalua was in one of her academic medical classes when the building suddenly rocked, producing startled yelps and screams from her classmates and other nearby rooms. She sat up straight, knowing something was very wrong, her hand moving in the direction of the gun she was allowed to have on her due to having her ranged weapons class later that day. The class came to a stand-still as the other students began muttering to one another worriedly, and their behavior irritated her as she kept gazing around, trying to find out where the rocking had come from.

Suddenly, a section of the ceiling near the front of the room fell to the floor with a monster like a distorted, scaled human on top of it, its top half a mangled, blueish color and the bottom half of its body more of a sickly, fleshy-reddish color. She drew in a sharp breath as she recognized it as a Makonoid, rising and drawing her gun from its holster to shoot the monster in the head. The force of the shot made it arch backwards, but then it straightened again and everyone watched the wound heal in something like horror. That was when the screaming, chaotic, running-around-like-a-chicken-with-its-head-cut-off behavior began.

Before they had a chance to leave the room, two more holes several feet from the first appeared, dropping two more monsters into the room, those ones Sahagins. The Makonoid was standing still for some reason, but from the holes it and the Sahagins had left, a pair of black Blood Tastes like Dark Nation appeared. Of everyone in her class, Shalua was the only one bothering to fight back, even though she knew others were also in at least one of the combat classes. Granted, a few of them may not have had their weapons on them, but at least three of them should have had their guns.

Unfortunately, her attacking them caused them to turn towards her—

Before they could attack, she heard the door being thrown open and five shots hit their targets in such quick succession all five monster fell to the ground in a wave. She looked up to see a black haired Turk in the doorway with two guns drawn, then paused to look out into the hall—and sent another shot down the hall in the direction of the office.

He then looked around the room and called, "Anyone hurt?" He got back a bunch of 'no's' as the other students calmed down, so he added, "Anyone in combat classes had better start breaking out their weapons and fighting—you're in combat classes to learn to handle situations like this, not run around uselessly in fear." His gaze then moved to Shalua as he said, "Miss Rui, as much as trying to fight them alone was dangerous, I'm glad _some_ one had the sense to _try_. Will you keep that up or help with other things—tending injuries, for example?"

"...Which one do you think it would be better for me to do?" Shalua asked in reply, then glared. "And why does a Turk I've never met know my name?"

He looked faintly amused as he said, "You and Shelke have been adopted by us, along with your other friends. Aren't you thankful for Eden now?" He paused as she blinked in surprise, then added, "I'd say your better bet is to focus on injuries and only fight if you have no other option. We currently have no access to doctors. Stay close to me—there are SOLDIERs and robo-soldiers from Weapons due to arrive shortly to help with the monsters. Any other students in combat classes—ready your weapons and come along."

Everyone jumped as he shot down the monsters again when they started to get up, then hurried to obey. He allocated two of them who had guns to keep the monsters in the room in recovery, then led Shalua, the other ranged user (he used a chain sickle, though), and a few close-combat fighters from the room to head to the next one.

SH

Al was currently on one of the room's four sparring mats as he had an unarmed match with one of his classmates, a rather haughty boy about his age. Elena was sitting by the wall near one of the other mats, waiting for her turn to spar there, her expression absolutely bored like Al knew Ed's would have been in a similar situation. As far as sparring went, there were only two others in the room who were a challenge to him, and Elena was one of them, while the other was a young man at a third of the mats, so he didn't need to pay attention to the match.

It was a good thing, because the voices he'd started hearing (Aeris, Mei, and Winry had said that was the Lifestream) were oddly agitated, but weren't being clear about what, so they were distracting him. He wondered if the other three could tell, too.

When the building suddenly rocked, producing startled yelps from their classmates and screams from other nearby rooms, he sought out Elena's gaze. She stood from her place by the wall and made her way over to him, all sparring matches put on hold until they knew things were safe again. He then looked upward as the sense from the Lifestream became even more agitated, holding a warning of danger. The rest of the class' worried muttering was a tension-creating irritant.

Until a section of the ceiling over the far mat fell to the floor with a monster like a distorted, scaled human on top of it, its top half a mangled, blueish color and the bottom half of its body more of a sickly, fleshy-reddish color.

"That's a Makonoid!" Elena hissed, drawing her gun from its holster to shoot the monster in the head. The force of the shot made it arch backwards, but then it straightened again and everyone watched the wound heal in something like horror.

Before they had a chance to react to the monster, which was standing still, two more holes several feet from the first appeared, dropping two more monsters into the room, those ones Sahagins. A Destroyer melted a hole almost directly above Al and Elena, making them jump back from both the molten metal and the monster, but Al attacked the Destroyer hard and fast. It started to grow, then deflated as it 'died', falling to the floor and sort-of rocking in place while it healed.

"Do you think these are like the monsters Tseng warned us about, Elena? Those ones that just won't die until you've killed them a dozen or more times?" Al asked, and the other students glanced over at the pair with horrified expressions.

"Probably," she agreed, then sighed as two Blood Tastes joined the collection through the Sahagins' holes. "Well, then!" Elena suddenly smirked, stepping towards the monsters. "This _is_ a combat class! Let's show our worth and start killing these sorry excuses for monsters!" She shot forward to down the two Sahagins, which roused a cheer from the other students as they all joined the assault.

Al watched the process in bemusement—until something green and slimy dropped to the floor through the Destroyer's entrance, sliding towards him with a will of its own. He'd had time to look at a bestiary, and the slime-thing wasn't recorded in it, so he backed up and moved to the side to see if it was actually aware.

It was, he realized as soon as it turned to follow his movement—and ignored one of the other students accidentally stepping on its back end.

A sudden thought came to him and made his eyes widen as he gasped, "Shelke!" Before he had time to rethink his decision, he jumped at the slime monster as he modified the Ice arrays in his 'enhanced element' Materia to create a long-term ice cube with Ice 9 (1)—and encased the slime monster in it. After a momentary pause to make sure it would hold—it did—he shouted above the battle din (there were more monsters now, too), "Elena! Shelke's in danger!"

Elena landed beside him a moment later, eying the slime with disgust as she demanded, "Explain."

"You remember Hojo saying he wanted her as well as me, right? This weird slime monster was _after me_ , not a general attacker. I'd bet everything I own that she's got one after her, too," Al explained quickly.

The blond girl drew in a sharp breath, then nodded and said, "She, Yufi, and Evan should be in their Materia class now. Let's go." She proceeded to run from the room, Al following closely as she led the way to the Materia classroom.

Along the way, they heard battle noises from many rooms with scattered gunshots, shouts, and screams, and Al had to work to stay focused on finding Shelke. If he stopped to help others, he'd never make it to the nine-year-old who risked being kidnapped if they didn't get to her soon enough. That realization also caused his brother's words about how harsh this world could be to hit home—he was now being forced to choose Shelke's safety and sanity or to stop and fight a near-neverending battle for others.

If only he could use his usual alchemy...

But he couldn't, so he had to choose, and as much as it pained him to leave behind however many others...Every time he thought of stopping to fight, an image of Nina and Tucker flashed in front of his eyes and he realized there were worse fates than death. The students who died, while that was tragic and he'd rather it not happen, Shelke's fate in Hojo's hands would be far worse, and she'd already suffered so much.

He stayed at Elena's heels, and soon after, they reached the room they needed and threw open the door. Most of the kids had scattered to the walls in varying states of fear, Evan and Shelke had backed into one corner, and Yufi, Illis, and the teacher were all pelting a slime monster from their place between it and the kids in the corner. As a slime tendril the others had missed neared Shelke and Evan, the boy sent his own Bolt spell at it, forcing it to retreat and Shelke was—strapping something on at her waist?

Without pausing, Al jumped forward past Elena to ice the slime monster with Ice 9 the same way he'd done the first one, making the entire class stare at him in shock.

The shock was cut short as a Makonoid suddenly rose from the floor and launched itself at Yufi, who blocked it on her combat star. Before it could attack again, Illis was moving to attack it—but Shelke got there first, slashing at it in a practiced twin-bladed dance...with brilliantly glowing, red-orange blades? Yes, Al realized, the 'blades' in her hands looked more like beams of light the length of a dagger than they did like metal blades. Attached to the pommel of each glowing dagger was a thing like a glowing tube the same color as the blades, and each tube in turn attached to something anchored at the back of her belt.

In the minute she spent rapidly attacking the Makonoid, she fairly dismantled it, finishing by slicing its head off as it fell—and everyone realized it wasn't regenerating.

"Whoa!" Yufi gasped in awe as an almost startled Shelke stood over the Makonoid's remains.

"What _are_ those blades?" Elena blinked at the girl.

"They were...my weapon as a Deepground soldier," Shelke said softly. "Laser daggers—a light-weight and maneuverable weapon with high-impact damage meant to be used by a child primarily intended for data manipulation. The daggers are good, and I can use them well, but until now, I didn't realize how good they are or what Eden meant when he said at least I'd be able to protect myself if I needed. I'm glad the Doctors gave them back to me. Lasers don't really work on the slime, though."

"I'm betting Hojo wanted the slimes to retrieve us for him, because there's another one after me," Al told her. She blinked at him. "And then there's all the monsters running around and attacking all and sundry. What we need is some sort of plan."

"We have to help everyone!" Yufi announced. "And I want to fight more! This is fun!" She was grinning, making everyone else in the room give wry smiles.

Illis pulled out her PHS to go through the numbers with the intent to ask Tseng for any orders he may have, but then suddenly saw a new text message and looked up at the group to ask, "How many of you also want to do the same?"

"Why? Do you have orders?" Elena asked curiously.

"The Turks are operating on independent action terms, meaning my decisions are my own unless he specifically gives me other orders. I have none until the power goes out, so if enough of you are game to go monster hunting, we can do that. I'm more inclined to agree by knowing the slimes aren't a danger to anyone if they're ice cubes." As she spoke, she motioned out the window, where it was suddenly much darker than anyone was used to seeing.

Elena gave a nod and said, "I'd rather do something than nothing, and we still have some of our group to find—like Shalua—let alone everything _else_ that's going on."

Illis gave a nod as Al, Shelke, and even Evan, agreed. She then faced the rest of the class and said, "Stay here unless any of you plan on joining us, as it looks like you won't be getting any further—visitors." A few other kids who were apparently more adventurous after seeing Shelke fight joined them as they moved to the hall, but the rest stayed where they were.

As they were filing into the hall, a panting Anthony, Cloud, and Tifa ran up to them, all obviously having been fighting. The two boys wore the SOLDIER Third Class light blue uniforms, and Anthony was talking as soon as he saw the girls, Shelke especially, "Good, you're okay! Riha has gone outside because the monsters out there are all heading this way, Ruluf is with Shalua, and we came to find you. We haven't seen Mei or Karen (2). Most of the monsters seem to be in the rooms nearer the front of the building. What were you about to do?"

"When did you change uniforms?" Yufi asked in surprise.

Anthony and Cloud—and all the others—traded bemused looks before Cloud said, "We got our infusions on the eleventh, and this is the first day we're wearing the Third's uniform." (3)

"So you're getting a 'Trial by Fire'," Elena replied in amusement, producing good-natured grins and chuckles. "We were going to start monster hunting. If a green slime shows up, call Al because he can apparently turn them into long-term ice cubes."

"Got it," the two agreed.

They broke into two smaller groups to take each side of the hall as they began clearing out the monsters—and virtually everyone was awed by Shelke's actual combat skills, except for Anthony, who just gave her a nod of respect.

 **Notes:**

(1) In Before Crisis, Turk Materia levels to 9, not 3, so I figured I could have Al (or Ed, if it came to that) turn the main game version of Materia into ones with a maximum of 9 levels.

(2) This is just a random name I assigned to 'the thirteen-year-old experiment' so they had an actual name to call her by, like they should. It's not important and you don't have to remember it. I just figured if she was having lunch with Elena, Anthony, Shalua, and the others, they'd know and use her name—it's one thing for Ed to not know, but it'd just be strange if these kids, her 'friends', didn't.

(3) Based on my timeline, February 10th would have made it exactly 3 months to the day from when they began their SOLDIER Cadet training. They got their notice of successful completion then, and were assigned a time to get their first infusions on the following day, the 11th. Today is the 16th. If there had been more Cadets, there would have been more than one day allocated for the first infusion, and in my story, Mako poisoning recovery from SOLDIER infusions generally takes 3 days to become functional again (not necessarily fully recovered, just able to do things, a bit like working with a headache or minor cold). These are Cadets getting their first infusion, however, so they're given 4 days to recover, and longer if needed, up to a week. In Roy's case, he got his first two infusions at once, so he could have asked for a week, but him being who he is, he recovered abhorrently fast.


	61. 57-MiM: Death

Monsters in Midgar: Death

He wasn't tired. Zack was confused, given how he'd been in steady battle with all manner of monsters alongside the Behemoth since they'd all woken. He was glad he was a First, though, because the top-end strength and reflex boosts it gave were what was keeping him alive as monsters attacked. The Funny Faces were the worst. He'd noticed bigger monsters had to be killed more times than smaller ones, and that the break between battle rounds got longer the more times they were killed, but that was moot when there were plenty of opponents attacking at once.

Where _was_ he getting his unending supply of energy from?

Zack sighed as the Behemoth got up _again_. He'd already 'killed' it about twenty times and it _still_ wasn't dead. The two Blood Tastes he'd started with had been dead for awhile, along with two Epiolnises and an Evil Eye which had joined the fight soon after. One Destroyer had died before he'd sent the Behemoth into recovery the most recent time, which left him three Funny Faces which were new additions and two more Destroyers which had joined several rounds after the first, now dead one. There was no shortage of enemies.

Only just now, he had a Funny Face, both Destroyers, _and_ the Behemoth attacking all at once.

Until one Destroyer and the Funny Face fell to the ground as he dodged the Behemoth—which rammed into the other Destroyer, taking it out of commission for recovery, too. It only took a moment to come down on the back of the Behemoth's neck, sending it back into recovery as well.

Looking up and around, he saw Emma of the Turks crouched on a nearby rooftop, hand raised in greeting. He returned the wave with a grin, then heard someone call, "Sir!" and turned to look. There were Infantrymen filing into the area, breaking off into smaller groups as one group approached him.

"Hey, guys!" he greeted them cheerfully. "What's up?"

"We'll take care of the other monsters while you and the Lady Turk work on the Behemoth if that's all right?" one of the Privates asked.

Zack looked at the monsters he'd been fighting, then said, "While we're in active combat, the help would be appreciated. When the Behemoth's in recovery, like now, I'll take care of the monsters stupid enough to attack me, and you guys can stop new adds to the battle or help civilians. Some are trapped under the rubble around here."

They traded looks under their helmets, then their spokesperson nodded and said, "We'll do that, then. Thanks, Sir." He then split up the group, selecting a few 'monster watchers' while the rest went to search the rubble piles to dig out civilians. It didn't escape Zack's attention that virtually all of them were ranked either as Privates or Cadets, nothing higher than that.

Say what?

As the Funny Faces which had been in recovery rose to face him, he attacked them harshly to send them right back into recovery—and looked up in time to see Emma shoot down two Evilgoyles.

Then the power went out—and the Behemoth, newly recovered, went into a panic frenzy that knocked him back, as did nearly every other monster in the area which wasn't in recovery. Emma shot out the Behemoth's eyes—and it didn't recover for a change as it was forced to stop, so he grinned and shot at it, jumping to crush its skull. Sure enough, it fell—and didn't get back up or go into recovery, it just died.

A moment later, Emma landed beside him, her PHS open as she said, "We have to get back to the Shinra building. All the monsters are heading there."

"Got it," Zack agreed as she put her PHS away. "Hey, Troopers!"

"Yes, Sir?" a few asked in reply.

"Those of you searching the rubble, keep at it. The rest, clean up the monsters here—they'll be a lot easier to kill now—then head to Shinra Headquarters to help us there. We're going ahead to head off the monster march on it," Zack instructed them.

"Yes, Sir! We'll catch up soon!" one Private agreed with a grin. Others gave waves to show they'd heard.

Zack and Emma turned to the still-brightly-lit Shinra building and made their way back to it, killing the monsters they found heading that way as they went.

SH

Kariya was tired and had retreated to a window ledge just outside the monsters' reach to rest, one hand to his still-tender side after the Behemoth had gotten in a lucky strike—thankfully, even though his shirt and jacket were torn, he'd been able to heal the injury with his Restore Materia. He knew he was in trouble because he only had a few bombs and fewer bullets left, not counting the off-limits bomb. The Behemoth was recovering noticeably slower, but because he needed the bombs for the Behemoth and had only a finite number, he'd had to use nearly all his gun ammo just to finally kill the Destroyers. Would the three bombs he had left be enough to finally kill the Behemoth?

Suddenly, there was a shriek above him, and he looked up to see three Evilgoyles diving at him from above. "Fucking Hellfire..." he sighed, too tired to move right then.

Before they struck him, something landed on the one closest to him and lashed out at the other two, all three blows enough to send them to the ground and into recovery. Kariya had seen a flash of black, so he was pretty sure it was a Turk, and sure enough, Maur climbed up beside him a few moments later.

"Doing all right, Kariya?" the larger Turk asked.

With a snort, the orange haired Turk replied, "I'm damned tired, but otherwise fine. I have three bombs left, less ammo for my gun, and no way to know when that thing will finally die."

Both stared down at the slowly rousing Behemoth for a moment before Maur pulled a paper bag from inside his suit jacket. "I figured you'd be quick to get low, so I risked getting here a bit later in favor of making sure you were resupplied," Maur said as he offered the bag to Kariya.

The bomb specialist took the bag, opened it, and gave an impressed whistle. "That was probably the best available option. Thanks. There's Materia in here?" Even as he asked that, he began allocating the assortment of bombs to various places on his person.

At that moment, the Evilgoyles sprang up to attack again, so Maur shoved them harshly back to the ground—and even gave the Behemoth a 'killing' head blow. He then returned to Kariya's side to wait for the monsters to recover, which the Evilgoyles were obviously doing much faster than the Behemoth.

"If you're out of bullets, too, those bombs won't last long. The Materia are Contain and Ifrit, the two you had First Fair Master for you. Figured they'd come in handy today. You should have had them on you to start with," the other man finally replied to the question, sounding like he was scolding the older man.

Kariya chuckled and slotted the Materia in his bracer as well. "Didn't think I'd need them for my watch. As it happens, I _didn't_ need them for that."

Maur gave him an amused grin, then turned his gaze to the Evilgoyles as they sprang back into the air.

However, before the larger Turk could attack them, there was a shout of, "Fire!" and a volley of bullets hit the Evilgoyles, taking them down and sending them back into recovery. A look showed a rather well-coordinated group of Infantry as one—who only held Private rank—was giving orders to the rest. The ones with him were similarly ranked as Privates or as Cadets, and their 'commander' quickly split the group to leave a small unit with the Turks while the rest were directed to move on to other areas. Kariya knew most of the areas they were heading into had monsters running around.

One of the remaining Privates called to the Turks, "We're to give you support against the other monsters attacking you while you're fighting the Behemoth! Leave the rest to us!"

Maur gave a chuckle as Kariya smiled and called back, "Thanks for the backup! We'll be done soon!"

"How soon do you think you'll be ready to take on this big nasty again?" Maur asked of the orange haired man beside him.

"Oh, you'll probably have at least one more round of killing it for me before I'll be fit to move again," Kariya replied. "Just don't attack it the same way twice in a row or you'll get mauled."

"It can predict a repeat of the previous attack?" the brown haired man asked in surprise.

"Apparently. And I'm not sure this one is quite a normal Behemoth, either, even by the standards of the 'monsters which won't die', I just can't put my finger on what it is."

"...I'll go with your instincts after your years on a battlefield. If something's wrong here, we're going to have to be ready for it."

The advice about changing the exact method of attack worked, and Maur ended up downing the Behemoth twice more before Kariya had recovered. While Maur also could have handled the three Evilgoyles—and a new arrival in the form of an Epiolnis—having the Infantry to take care of those made things much easier. On the next attack on the Behemoth, Kariya used a bomb on it as he had been doing until Maur got there, sending it back into recovery once more.

As the Behemoth got up again and the Turks were preparing to attack it, the Sector 1 Reactor suddenly shut down and all the power went out. All the nearby monsters shrieked in alarm and went into a panic frenzy, even the Behemoth—and they all lashed out with an insane attack force. Maur jumped at the Behemoth as Kariya threw some bombs at the assortment of Destroyers, Evil Eyes, and the Epiolnis which had focused their attacks on the Infantrymen.

Right away, Kariya noticed a difference—they went down and stayed down, still and unmoving! With a feeling of elation, he turned to look for Maur—

To see the man pinned under one of the Behemoth's clawed paws—as the Behemoth changed colors from dark purple to—yellow!

It was becoming a King Behemoth in the middle of the battle!

"No!" he yelled as Maur punched the Behemoth's ankle with a Quake Fist with enough force to break it.

King Behemoths were far more sensitive to magical attacks than Behemoths and were guaranteed to counter them with Flare, and the earth elemental blow activated that counter at point-blank range.

As the explosion of heat and light faded, Kariya felt himself grow cold. There was nothing but ash left of Maur's body. (1)

Then, the cold turned to raging hot fury as he snarled, "You son of a bitch!"

There was no thought as he jumped forward and shoved a bomb into the first 'soft' spot he came to as it turned to face him, catching one of its horns so he could reach those few 'soft' spots. The first one turned out to be its eye—which left his hand a slimy mess, but he didn't particularly care right then. All he could focus on was killing the much stronger and harder-to-kill King Behemoth, with only the knowledge that at least it _would_ be able to die now.

At the pain of having the bomb shoved into its eye, the King Behemoth—now fully changed to yellow with a dark blue mane, blue eyes, and white horns, claws, and fangs—threw its head back, and because Kariya was holding onto one of its horns, he was tossed high into the air with the motion. From his new vantage point above it, he drew his gun and shot his last bullet into the eye with the bomb. The resulting explosion broke his fall as it tore apart and incinerated most of the King Behemoth's head and neck.

It collapsed in what felt like slow motion as he came down on its back, but it quickly went completely still as he stood straight and—stared off into space, silent tears running down his cheeks.

He hadn't been close to many of the Turks until recently, but Maur had been one of the few who hadn't cared about his past from the start. It _hurt_ to lose one of his few true, old friends in the Turks, leaving him nearly in a state of shock as he tried to adapt to Maur's death.

Suddenly, one of the Infantrymen broke into his thoughts with a timid, "Sir, the monsters are moving in the direction of Shinra Headquarters, and we'd like to go after them. If you need, a couple of us could stay with you?"

Shinra Headquarters. Where his daughters were.

Turning his head to look in that direction, he realized it still had power. "I just lost one of my best friends. My daughters are in that building, and I _won't_ lose them, too. Let's get over there," Kariya replied, jumping down from the Behemoth's back.

"Yes, Sir," the clearly shocked Infantrymen—all of them—answered.

There would be time to mourn later. Right now, he _had_ to protect the living, even if that meant stuffing his current pain in a figurative box to set aside until later.

With the Infantrymen flanking him, they made their way to Shinra Headquarters.

SH

When he'd first fought the lone Funny Face which just wouldn't die, Reno had been annoyed—and scared, though he'd never admit that to anyone else. He'd even been in the Sector 8 Slums back then, too, and there had been nothing else in the immediate area to worry about. Even though he'd known that single monster wouldn't be a one-off and he'd have to fight monsters like those again, he'd been hoping that wouldn't be the case.

Until Tseng had called him to his office to give him a pair of green illusion stones, which apparently manipulated plants—and poison pollens. Right away, he'd had the guys in Weapons fit them to his EMR and had begun experimenting with them. The results had shown him just how useful, but also how dangerous to his allies, they could be. He could do a lot of things with plants, assuming there was soil for them to 'root' in, because most of them were triggering sudden growth of dormant seeds nearby. The poison pollens, and other similar things (there was a healing nectar, too, for example), were produced from the stones directly unless there were already-grown plants nearby.

Unfortunately, the item produced by the stone, like the poison pollen, affected a designated area or a set area around him, not a specific target, so it would poison any of his allies in the area as well as the enemies. To mitigate that without needing a bunch of Antidotes on hand, he'd gotten Zack to give him a Unicorn Summon—and sure enough, he could use the pollen, call the Summon, and keep any of his allies from being poisoned in the process. Well, it wasn't that they 'weren't being poisoned', it was that Unicorn was immediately negating their poison status, and as long as he was keeping the pollen active, Unicorn would stay around to keep recovering his allies.

Now, as he wandered through the Sector 8 Slums, he was deliberately making a target of himself because he had the best end of the deal he could get, and it was kinda fun to watch the monsters falling like flies around him. There was one fatal flaw in the monsters' make-up, but only someone with the use of a permanent effect magic or item could exploit it. Even when the monsters went into recovery, they only recovered physical damage, but any status effects which were permanent, like poisons or curses, would stay active on them and they would still be poisoned or cursed when they got back up again. And the poison would keep eating away at their health, too, even when they were in recovery mode, so they went down faster after leaving it.

He was alone at the moment, so didn't need Unicorn, though he'd encountered a few Gaia's Refuge guys on the way and warned them to get civilians out of his path as he headed for the power transmission stations.

Oddly enough, not long after he got to the Slums, all the power went out, so he was actually being mobbed by monsters and it was only the poison saving him. Of course, after the power went out, it also seemed like they only needed to 'die' once or twice to stay dead, and the air was becoming oddly clean. So was the ground, for that matter. He'd noticed a trend for the monsters to head in one particular direction, though, and began following the direction they were heading in. It was leading him towards the Sector 1 Slums, and towards one of the older power transmission stations on the outskirts of no-man's-land between 8 and 1, near the core support pillar of Midgar.

As he approached the area, he could hear a battle happening up ahead, so he picked up his pace, climbing right over a pile of rubble that was in his way—and from the top of it, he could see the transmission station. It looked like the station facility was sending out sparks and smoke in several places, like it had blown out. Alvis and several of Gaia's Refuge's guys were fighting a host of monsters all trying to reach the power transmission station, leaving him puzzled by why they were mobbing it. Another look at the battle zone showed the monsters nearest the station in their normal recovery state while the ones further away were staying dead after one or two blows.

So far, all the monsters were Sahagins, Blood Tastes, Funny Faces, and Evil Eyes, but Alvis had put one Abyss Worm in a Pyramid. While the group was doing reasonably well against the mob, the sheer numbers of monsters kept growing, and there was actually a strange absence of Abyss Worms and Death Claws around the station. Reno suddenly had a bad feeling and scrambled down the junk heap—one of the last ones remaining in the area, only because the 'garbage disposal company' kept tossing their garbage in that spot—to march right into the mess with his poison pollen active. As he was entering the outskirts of the battle zone, there were none of his allies in range just yet, so he didn't need Unicorn.

Regardless, his presence there took some of the pressure off the others and gave them a chance to let a few of theirs sit out to recover. In the first round of 'resters', there were three members of Gaia's Refuge, and eight were still fighting alongside Alvis.

Reno still felt like something was wrong—and he was proven right as the ground surged beneath Alvis and the Gaia's Refuge active fighters. The red haired eighteen-year-old's mouth fell open in shock as he saw three Death Claws and three more Abyss Worms surge out of the ground, one of the former and two of the latter swallowing people whole as they did (well, mostly whole, in the Death Claw's case). One Abyss Worm launched itself at the power station, freeing the Abyss Worm which had been held in Pyramid in the process, ripping a hole in the side of the station which sent a massive shower of sparks scattering over the area. The other two Death Claws—attacked the people they had just come up under, fast and hard.

It took only moments for Alvis and three of the Gaia's Refuge agents to be sliced to ribbons, bodies dismantled into no less than six pieces each. (2)

"Holy Alexander..." Reno muttered as the head of one of Gaia's Refuge's people landed at his feet, followed by Alvis' arm and EMR. His stomach rebelled, but he held it back by an act of will—and by forcing it all into something Tseng liked to call 'his own brand of primal fury', a Limit Break which varied in effect every single time he used it.

Right then, the effect was singularly unique and impressive, as it expanded the range of his poison pollen significantly, turned it nearly instantly deadly, and called Unicorn out just in time to keep the remaining five of Gaia's Refuge's members alive. Pretty much every single monster died as the poison pollen visibly ate them from the inside out, like a high dose of extremely volatile acid. Some near the power station tried to go into recovery, but they were being eaten so fast by the poison that they couldn't recover fast enough and never came out of recovery—not because they 'hadn't recovered', but because there was next to nothing left of their bodies.

"Turk!" one of the men from Gaia's Refuge called. When Reno's gaze moved to him, the man said, "Felicia's asking for us to move to Sector Six, Wall Market, where the majority of the monsters seem to be. Are you...I mean, do you want us to go ahead?"

Feeling something brush his face, Reno reached up to brush it away—only to realize it was a tear. Had he realized he was so close to the other Turks? It would probably be a long time before he could close his eyes and not see a repeat of that scene, he realized tiredly.

But, they still had work to do, and Wall Market was the most populated Sector in the Slums. "I'm goin' with you, yo," he replied, rubbing his face and forcing the tears away as he deactivated the poison pollen and Unicorn released on its own once the last of the pollen settled. "Lead the way."

The six set out for Wall Market, Reno pausing only long enough to retrieve Alvis' EMR.

SH

Standing guard in the President's Office was a rather boring task. The only changes in President Shinra and Hojo had been the President sitting back from his paperwork while pinching the bridge of his nose and Hojo getting up to stand at the window. It was easy to see the mad scientist's smirk in the reflection in the glass, but either way, as long as they were stuck there, no opportunity to eliminate Hojo would present itself anytime soon.

At least, that was what Vant thought.

Until he saw Hojo stiffen and his expression become a glare. After a few more moments, the man put his hand on the window, his gaze full of rage. After a few moments more, Vant saw the lights coming from the city below dim significantly as Hojo released a snarl, causing President Shinra to look up at him warily. As the entire city darkened, causing the whole area to fall into a near-twilight state of lighting (why _was_ it so dark in Midgar in the middle of the day on the _Upper_ Plate?), Vant smiled and Hojo spun to face him.

"How? How did you inform them when I destroyed your PHS?" the scientist howled, almost spitting in his rage, taking several jerky steps in Vant's direction.

"Inform who of what?" President Shinra ventured, frowning. "And what does _that_ have to do with an unscheduled power outage?"

The Turk had to commend Shinra's observation skills, even as he met Hojo's gaze and said, "I'd had my PHS out since I sat down up there, and as soon as you went on your rant about Mako, I knew the Reactors were the key to defeating the monsters. It's nothing more complicated. On the other hand, your bragging gave me time to type out the message and send it, and you only destroyed my phone _after_ I'd hit the 'send' button."

For a long moment, Hojo was silent before asking in an icy tone, "And Reactor Zero?"

Vant raised a brow. "We know where it is and how to get to it. Did you think we'd be so remiss as to forget that one? We're _Turks_ , after all." He was sort of taunting Hojo with that, so he braced himself for a potential attack. But really, Hojo had to _ask that_?

 **Notes:**

(1) + (2) Both of these are deaths which could not have been avoided, even with Final Attack + Revive/Phoenix. Remember, the terms of revival they've been operating on are that there has to be enough of the body left for Revive/Phoenix to be able to revive it. Maur is ash, maybe with some bits of cooked meat, and Alvis is in no less than six pieces = Both deaths wouldn't have been changed by the combo.

Just so no one goes and tells me 'they'd have been fine if I'd given everyone Final Attack + Revive/Phoenix like Zack was Mastering them for.'

Also, if anyone has been paying attention to some of the scenarios playing out so far, there's been at least one other obvious death and/or severe injury which was avoided by the Amestrians' presence. Note: Even a few extra people can make a huge difference in how well something goes, and Gaia got the good end of the deal by getting the ones they did.


	62. 58-MiM: 0 (Zero)

Monsters in Midgar: 0 (Zero)

Silence fell in the President's office for three heartbeats before a surge of rage and tentacles exploded from Hojo's body as he howled, "You've ruined _everything_!"

President Shinra swore and scrambled back from his desk, hitting the wall of windows behind him, then inching along it towards the balcony door, very narrowly missing damage by the tentacles lashing out in his direction. Vant, as he dodged the tentacles targeting him, drew his gun and shot off the ones reaching for the President, causing another howl of rage from Hojo. Or Jenova? Or both, maybe?

Yes, he probably could have let Hojo kill the President, but there were two immediate problems they would cause which they couldn't afford to have at the moment. One of those was a need for an organizer to fix the mess in the city, and killing Shinra would have meant they'd have no one until Rufus could return from his trip—which would also defeat the purpose of said trip. The other was that protecting him was a means to earn his trust so he would hopefully at least give them hints to what he was up to, and they were all sure he was up to something they couldn't afford to not know. And so he hopefully wouldn't go off the deep end with paranoia after both Heidegger and Hojo tried to kill him. On the same day, less than an hour apart.

"What did I ruin, exactly?" Vant called when the howling stopped and the tentacles had returned to Hojo's sides to heal.

"My beautiful pets are going to be destroyed, I'll never get Sephiroth back under my control, and I'll never be able to get my hands on the subjects denied to me!" the scientist snarled.

"And that was justification for destroying the city?" the Turk asked with a frown, wondering how anyone so insane was able to make people think they were sane.

"Of course it was!" Hojo snarled again—and mutated into some sort of twisted hybrid thing with some sort of small protrusions on its back, two warped arms of different sizes, and an assortment of tentacles for legs. It still wore Hojo's lab coat, and it could still be called 'humanoid' in a very loose sense of the term, as it still had—mostly—Hojo's head and torso, an upright stance, and two arms, even without having only two legs. The mad scientist/Jenova then startled him by shouting, "Qliphoth, come help me kill this annoying Turk!"

...Who in Titan's name was Qliphoth?

Vant had his answer momentarily as a silver haired young man with cat-like green eyes stepped out from behind the pillar in the back of the room and approached the two calmly. He looked just like Sephiroth with only minor differences, all of them superficial—his bangs were parted in the middle, not to the left, his sword hilt was different from Sephiroth's, and there were minor differences in their clothing. The similarities were eerie, especially when he was the same age as Sephiroth and he definitely hadn't been born as Sephiroth's twin. About the only thing this answered was why Vant had felt a fourth presence in the Office the whole time he'd been there.

"...That's not the General," the Turk commented warily.

Hojo howled with laughter which was a distorted cross between male and female before saying, "This is Qliphoth, or Subject Q, a clone of Sephiroth. At first, I had thought he was a failure, but with my modifications to him, he turned out to be quite a force to be reckoned with. And he's so much better behaved, too."

With a small sigh, Vant called, "You'd better go outside, Mr. President, otherwise you'll end up dead." The man, who had been hovering at the door to the balcony, moved to open it.

"Oh, yes, I'll deal with _you_ later, Shinra!" Hojo laughed. The blond man paled and bolted outside.

As soon as the door closed, both Hojo/Jenova and Qliphoth launched attacks at him, the former with his tentacles and the latter with an eight-foot katana. At the last possible moment, Vant dodged, using his metal arm to deflect Qliphoth's strike while Hojo's tentacles (and a clawed hand, he realized belatedly) embedded themselves in the wall where he had been. One thing was sure—this wouldn't be an easy battle. Dodging one of them was one thing, but two, one of those virtually unbeatable until the power went out?

With one last sigh, he braced himself for what was likely to be the hardest fight of his life, mind entering a zone of battle clarity while he began assessing his opponents for movement patterns and potential weaknesses.

SH

It was no exaggeration to say the monsters were difficult to defeat as he worked his way though the building, up from the Turks' offices after dropping Lazard off. There were holes all over the place on all the floors—at least it was easy enough for Sephiroth to bypass them—showing where monsters had gone to lower floors, but that didn't mean they'd cleared out of the upper floors, either.

He'd met two Makonoids, easily the strongest of the monsters he'd met to date, several Sahagins—which still always traveled in packs—five Blood Tastes, a few Destroyers, and a couple stray Epiolnises and Funny Faces, though by anything he'd heard from elsewhere in the building, those last two had been oddities. In total from floor fifty-six to floor sixty-six, he'd found twenty-one monsters, which was no small number for ten floors, three of which hadn't had any monsters on them. It said a great deal about the sheer number of them Hojo had created. His one advantage was truly in how fast he could kill them, and the additional damage he could do with a single blow meant they took fewer recoveries before dying.

He had parted company with Tseng outside Palmer's office on sixty-six, the floor he was currently on, after helping the Turk kill two Blood Tastes. Since he had only needed to kill them twice, he realized Tseng had gotten them more than half down himself, without being able to speed up the process. They had taken a moment to trade notes—Tseng still had to check on the rest of the executives, so he'd asked Sephiroth to search the rest of that floor for monsters—and were thankful to know all the floors from fifty-six and up were now clear.

As he was debating going back down or checking above to be sure, his PHS rang, so he checked it—and saw Lunaria's (his mother's! That was still mind-boggling) number, so answered it with, "Are you well, M—Doctor?"

"I'm fine, but I'm not so sure about Vant," the woman replied. It sounded like there was distant battle noise in the background, something he likely only heard because of his Mako-enhanced hearing.

"What do you mean? Where are you?" he asked, gaze sharp and tone worried.

"I'm in the Presidential Lobby. Vant's upstairs fighting Hojo and one of Hojo's—creations," she replied, seeming to hesitate before saying the last word.

"With Hojo and a monster, Vant should be more than capable."

"Normally, I'd agree with you, General, but Hojo and Jenova have merged and the 'creation' isn't a 'monster', he's a clone—of _you_. Hojo named him Qliphoth and he's apparently the result of mixing your genetics with the same modifications he gave the other monsters. Vant may as well be fighting Jenova and a 'Nightmare' version of you."

Sephiroth drew in a sharp breath, then turned to the stairs to head to the President's office. "I'll be there shortly," he said, then hung up before she could reply.

It didn't take him long to get to floor sixty-nine, where Lunaria was waiting for him in the lobby—apparently with Heidegger's dead body—and he could hear the battle noise above more clearly. She gave him a quick hug as she said, "Be careful. Qliphoth won't be an easy opponent."

"I am aware of that," the silver haired man replied, turning to the stairs leading to the office above. "Stay safe," he added before he had taken more than a couple steps.

From partway up the stairs, he could see the state of the room and its occupants. It was a mess, with part of the ceiling having fallen in, nearly all the walls and some of the windows full of holes, and glass and debris scattered around. He could see a deformed, tentacled Hojo snarling in rage as his arms and tentacles healed from damage, and Qliphoth was just pushing himself up. Vant was outwardly 'damaged' by how his clothing had torn (or been cut) in many places, though the only sign of the real damage the man had taken was in how he leaned heavily on the wall, eyes showing faint pain. It was only a matter of time before Hojo realized Vant was Vincent Valentine, but it didn't seem he had yet.

The thought was verified as Hojo snarled, "Why are you so hard to kill, Turk?" The question produced a faintly amused smile from Vant.

Qliphoth launched another attack on Vant, and Sephiroth moved with a burst of speed, catching the clone's blade on his—and causing a moment of stunned shock to envelop the room. "You _do_ greatly resemble me, physically at least," he told the clone, who snarled and jumped back. "However, I have doubts about your skills, and sincerely doubt you could defeat me. Shall we test the theory—clone?"

"I am Qliphoth! I will prove I am the superior of us and become the one Mother and Father favor!" the clone declared, attacking him quickly.

Sephiroth blocked every attempted strike as he replied, "If by 'Mother' and 'Father', you mean Jenova and Hojo, they are _not my_ parents and you are welcome to them, thank you very much."

The clone jumped back with a puzzled frown, shaking his head. "They must be yours to be mine, otherwise my existence is a lie."

"Oh, you 'exist', Qliphoth, but my parents are Doctor Lucrecia Crescent and Vincent Valentine, formerly of the Turks—genetically. Hojo only entered the equation to inject the cells of the parasite Jenova into me. Those genetics would be true of you as well, so yes, Hojo certainly has lied to you about who and what you are," Sephiroth explained calmly.

"So that's why you've become so resistant lately—you found out the truth," Hojo sneered. "How?"

Sephiroth blinked in momentary surprise as he turned his gaze to Hojo. "Do give me a good reason why I should humor you with such information, Professor. From my current position, there is _no_ viable reason you _could_ give."

Hojo was stewing in rage as several expressions crossed over Qliphoth's face—realization, betrayal, devastation, pain. After a moment, the clone screamed in rage and shot at Sephiroth again. "I did not wish to know any of that! I would have been happier knowing only the lie, not the truth! Die! Die slowly and painfully for what you have done to me!"

With a surprised blink at the words as he blocked the clone's much more reckless and erratic attacks, Sephiroth wondered why the clone was taking it so much worse than he had. The more erratic nature of the attacks meant he also had to focus much more on the battle at hand. He found himself comparing this more to Rosso the Crimson or the metamorphose experiments in Deepground than to Behemoths and Dragon Zombies from the Northern Crater, which was what he'd compared the other monsters to. It didn't take long for the sheer force of the attacks they were exchanging to effectively push them onto the roof, and even partially into the air above the building.

That was dangerous...

A crash below them signaled the battle between Hojo and Vant resuming. He could only hope Vant knew when to stop holding back, since it looked like Qliphoth was going to keep him busy for some time.

SH

"I wonder why they're avoiding the stairs," Jessie commented as she, Winry, and Sora reached the second floor via the stairwell.

As they kept going to the first floor, Sora replied simply, "They have no need of them."

"Sora, Jessie, will the two of you really be okay going back to Deepground?" Winry asked as Sora cautiously opened the door to the main floor lobby.

"I have no issue. Locations are not what harmed me, and the people who had are now dead," Sora replied, then launched herself forward to strike a Destroyer to the ground, both younger women blinking at her in surprise from the stairwell. The monster was rocking on the ground as it recovered. "Come quickly. We don't have long before it will recover—or more join it."

She led the way to the lift leading down to Deepground, opening up what Winry had thought was a solid, blank wall to reveal the lift. As they stepped onto it and Sora shut the door behind them, Winry looked at Jessie questioningly—who shoved a gas mask into the blond's hands before offering another to Sora.

Before putting on her own mask, Jessie met Winry's gaze and said, "I got through that with my sanity intact by 'not letting them win'. If I can't face an area I didn't even see while I was down there in order to save the city, they've won, and I won't give them the satisfaction, Winry. Put your mask on." Jessie then slipped hers on, watching as the blond did the same.

As Winry was securing her mask in place, Sora activated the lift so it could descend into Deepground, eyes scanning their surroundings on the way. As it traveled in a downward spiral, she noticed scorch marks on the lift walls, so she told the two younger women, "It looks like at least one monster got into Deepground somehow. Ready your weapons and prepare to head for the Reactor. I'll deal with any monsters we meet—your priority is to get the Reactor shut down." Her voice was muffled and distorted by the mask, but her words were still clear, so both younger women drew the rifles from their backs and braced themselves for what they would find down there.

If only Reeve's Master Code would work on Reactor 0, Winry wistfully sighed. It would have made the shut down and the reactivation so much easier, but no such luck. When she'd called Reeve earlier, he had explained that both the Nibel Reactor and Reactor 0 couldn't be shut down with the Master Code, but while all the other Reactors could be, someone still had to be at the central control station in each Reactor to input it. In the case of Nibel and 0, only a manual shut down and start up would be possible (ostensibly due to their status as scientific experimentation labs). Because they had to go through the process manually, Jessie's presence would be much more helpful, and even with her help, the process would still take around ten minutes. Alone, it would be closer to fifteen.

Finally, after several minutes, the lift reached the bottom of its path, letting them step off into a room where a smoke haze was hanging and the exit door had been blown outward into the 'city' beyond. The three women cautiously moved to the open door, Sora in front, but there was no obvious enemy waiting for them, so the Wutain woman led them through the streets as fast as she could. She chose the most direct route to the Reactor core access door, the trip to their destination quiet as they approached it—

Until a few steps from the door, when fire surged around them. Their saving grace was Sora activating a Mastered Leviathan, courtesy of Zack, to negate the flames and save them all from being scorched to death.

"Get to the core and begin the shut down!" Sora yelled, spinning and looking up in the direction the attack had come from. The two younger ones only paused long enough to follow her gaze when she gasped, "Ifrit!" Above them was a masculine, demonic-like being there which was encased in flickering flames. It had yellow, red-hued skin, rippling muscles, red, furry legs, hooves, horns, fangs, claws, and an oddly human-ish face with dark red hair. The fire elemental Summon was already preparing to launch another attack. (1)

Winry and Jessie both ran for the door and ran inside, shutting the door behind them as they ran for the core. "Really? A Summon can be an experimental subject?" Winry asked as she scrambled down the first ladder, Jessie following closely.

"That's news to me, but maybe with cloning, it's not quite a real Summon?" Jessie asked in reply.

"How did Hojo get _genetic data_ from a _spirit_?" Winry asked crossly, making her way across one set of walkways and through a chamber with a long set of stairs leading down.

"Uh...The same way a human and a Summon in human form—they don't all have one, or care to develop one, whichever it is—can have babies like _any other_ human couple?" the brown haired woman returned in dry amusement, still following the blond closely.

Winry looked over her shoulder in confusion as she reached the last ladder down, pausing to ask, "They can?" She was then climbing down to the last set of pipes leading to the core.

"Yeah. I'm actually becoming more and more sure Tseng is one of those half-Summon babies," Jessie replied.

"You're pulling my leg," the blond retorted as she reached the core and began scanning the panel in front of her, hands moving to various knobs and buttons as she came to the ones she needed, as she needed them. Each change she made caused the patterns of lights on the panel to change.

"No, I'm not," Jessie answered, starting to close nearby valves as she saw the patterns of lights change, indicating which ones it was safe to close. "Anyway, have you ever noticed how damned _good_ he is at virtually everything he does, even without having the status of a genius or whatever? That's a pretty common trait of a half-Summon. And if legends are true, Yufi and the Emperor are also, but not half because theirs is many generations removed now. It's pretty common for a half-Summon to have some sort of unusual physical trait, though, like that stone on Tseng's head, a really strange color of hair, or a birthmark that looks more like a well-designed, ink tattoo."

"Huh? But that would mean Summons aren't 'spirits' by the definition of the term, because a true spirit doesn't _have_ genetic data," Winry frowned, still working rapidly on the panel in front of her.

"We called them 'spirits' because we had no other name for them, but they're more like physical beings which can phase in and out of the physical plain and don't need food or water as sustenance," Jessie clarified.

"...That sure puts a spin on things," the blond muttered. "And why are we discussing this while Sora's out there fighting and we need to shut this down quickly?"

"We _are_ shutting it down quickly, and _you_ asked how Ifrit could have become an experimental subject."

Winry snorted at the words, flipped another two switches—and hissed a soft curse.

"Winry?" Jessie asked as she shut the most recent valve she'd been working on, watching as the blond stopped working to put her hands down on the panel.

After a moment, Winry lifted a hand to rap her knuckles on the panel twice before saying, "One of the outer valves is stuck open. I have to close it manually."

"Tell me where it is and I'll do it," Jessie offered. She couldn't see the indicator code for which valve it was with Winry in the way.

There was a pause as the blond thought—and got some input from the blue illusion stones—then shook her head and kept working on the panel in front of her. "Let's finish here, first. That way, the Reactor will shut down the flow of power leading to the building above us, even without the valve outside closed, and it'll shut down the rest of the way once we've closed the last one. It also won't cause us any problems by staying open longer."

"So wait—that valve only circulates the power in Deepground, it doesn't send it up to the Shinra building?" Jessie blinked, moving to shut another of the nearby valves as Winry flipped switches and turned knobs.

"Yeah," Winry agreed. "All the _rest_ of the outer valves closed automatically, limiting the flow down here, but—I guess we _had_ to run into _one_ glitch with how long this place has mostly been unattended. It doesn't even get the regular maintenance of the other Reactors across the Planet."

"That's true," the brown haired woman had to agree.

It didn't take them long to finish shutting down everything they could in there, then Winry led the way up into the maintenance paths above the entrance walkway. They climbed up nearly to the top of the Reactor in those paths, then used one hatch to climb out onto the top dome of the Reactor body near the massive pipes leading upward. It didn't take long for Winry to clamber over the domed roof to the large valve which hadn't shut—Mako smog blew out of it—at the base of those massive pipes, Jessie still following her closely.

Both glanced around as they climbed, seeing Sora looking somewhat singed (more than just the hole she'd already had in the back of her uniform shirt) while standing on a rooftop and a steaming, soaked Ifrit hovering in the air not far above her. As Sora wasn't attacking the Summon, either he was just outside her range or she had some other reason for not attacking, but it wasn't because _she_ was unable. Jessie pulled her rifle off her back and kept an eye on Ifrit as Winry chose to ignore the Summon and focus on getting to the valve, where she began pulling it down with her whole body weight.

Winry, despite her focus on the valve, knew she felt like something was wrong, and her bond to the Lifestream was mostly faded out in her current location, so all she got from it was a minor, worried, buzz-like sensation. She was thankful Jessie was acting as her guard right then, because she really needed all her strength and coordination to pull the valve to its closed position—after all, the valve handle was a little over half her height, so it wasn't easy to move. She could only move it so far on one pull, so had to pull down on it several times.

All at once, Ifrit howled and turned to face them as a weak flame shot in their direction—Jessie, who saw the flame emerge, had to wonder why it was so weak. However, when Ifrit realized his magic wasn't going to work, he physically shot at them—at Winry, specifically—which took him out of Sora's range completely. Her alarmed shout reached them as Jessie fired her rifle at Ifrit, causing him to divert slightly, only just enough to knock her down and snap her rifle. As she slid down the domed roof, scrabbling for hand or footholds, the Summon returned to its collision course with Winry, who was just pulling down on the valve.

The valve shut fully a moment before Ifrit reached the blond, so she didn't even have time to sigh in relief as all the lights in Deepground—except Ifrit's natural glow—went out. Pain exploded in her chest for a moment before darkness fell around her. She didn't hear Jessie and Sora shout in horror, and didn't feel herself fall from the top of the Reactor as Ifrit threw her off his clawed hand with a snarl.

 **Notes:**

For readers of both SH and FoW: the major point of difference between this scenario and the one in FoW is in how long the Reactor shut down took because of the number of people working on it. With 2, it took 5 minutes less time than when Jessie did it by herself in FoW. In FoW, Ifrit was fully recovered from its last 'death' because of those extra 5 minutes, so it could launch a massive flare at Jessie, but in this one, it's only just beginning to come out of its recovery state and isn't fully functional yet.

(1) No, this Ifrit isn't the same as Genesis'—if you'll recall all the way back in Catalyst Array when they were in Costa del Sol, Genesis gave Eden an Ifrit WHICH WAS FEMALE, and Genesis stated that a Summon of a particular gender would produce a 'baby' of the same gender. As such, both Genesis and Eden have female Ifrits, and the genetic data for this MALE Ifrit came from somewhere else.


	63. 59-MiM: Chaos

Monsters in Midgar: Chaos

Sora had been fighting the Summon for around fifteen minutes as he went in and out of recovery, but her eye widened as he suddenly turned away from her and tried to shoot off a flame attack in what appeared to be a random direction. Because he was just coming out of recovery, however, it fizzled out and he turned to physically fly in that direction.

With a sense of impending doom, she'd traced its path with her eye—only to find it _wasn't_ random, and Winry was in the Summon's path, even as Jessie saw the danger and began shooting at him. "No, Winry!" she yelled, but she already knew it was in vain.

A moment later, Ifrit had knocked Jessie down and hit the blond fifteen-year-old, his clawed hand piercing her body, then tossing her aside and off the top of the Reactor. She felt a sense of horror—Final Attack would revive her, just for her to die again in a way which couldn't be undone—but it ended up morphing into shock as flames exploded from Winry's body.

A giant bird she vaguely recognized as Phoenix appeared below the younger woman's body, and Winry landed on the bird's back rather than falling to the ground below. Ifrit turned to face Phoenix with a snarl and tried to launch a flame attack on it, but the flames were absorbed harmlessly. Before it could attack physically, as Phoenix pulled away from the fire Summon, Sora remembered Leviathan and sent it to attack Ifrit again, causing him to ram into Leviathan's neck before reaching the bird. As the result of striking the water Summon was for Ifrit to be soaked once more, he turned back to the SOLDIER with a howl of rage, launching another attack on her.

She was able to dodge the first attack with minor damage, but the damage combined with her raw emotion from Winry's near-dead pushed her into her Limit Break, causing a hazy, serpentine being to rise from her and attack Ifrit. That one shot sent him into recovery again (though Leviathan had helped with that, she was sure), and her gaze searched for both Jessie and Winry. She was finding the amount of Mako smog floating in the air in Deepground extremely annoying right then, even though much of it had been cleaned up by the Summon absorbing it to recover.

Jessie was scrambling down from the Reactor with little injury, and Winry was still on Phoenix's back as the bird of fire flew around the room, circling next to the stone walls. Why it was still there and hadn't landed yet, she wasn't sure, but it meant she couldn't tell anything about Winry's state.

Thoughts distracted as they were, she didn't realize Ifrit had recovered until he struck her, tossing her into the wall of a building and promptly causing it to collapse on top of her. She shoved herself up and attacked the Summon again, several times in quick succession, earning a few blows as well in retaliation. However, after so long fighting, even if she was tired, Mako enhancements still gave her an edge, especially when Ifrit was blazingly easy to see.

However, before she could kill him, he was suddenly encased in something largely resembling an ice cube. It even gave off a substantial chill. Her gaze traveled up to Phoenix for a moment before she gave a faint smile—it was now obvious Winry was actually alive and well—and attacked Ifrit one more time.

SH

Bands of green-white light swirled into Winry's previously black vision and she abruptly gasped in a breath, becoming aware of how she lay on a moving, feathered surface. She felt a kinship with the feathered thing much the way she had with Carbuncle, felt a gentle, almost-voice in her mind which was letting her know she would be okay. Slowly, she opened her eyes and glanced around dazedly, seeing the Deepground cavern ceiling passing by fairly close above her. Blinking, she gasped and sat up, eyes seeking the light source letting her see so well when the power should have been out—and realizing she was on the back of a large, mostly red and flaming bird with a golden glow and rainbow colored feathers on the lower portions of its wings near its body.

The glow coming off the bird was so bright it was lighting up the whole cavern.

"Phoenix..." she breathed in sudden realization, looking down at her wrist, where the blue Final Attack and red Phoenix Materia were glowing faintly. She was suddenly more grateful to Genesis for his gift of Phoenix than she could ever imagine. However, in the process, she also saw the bloody holes in her engineering uniform and the shirt under it. "I died, and just like Ed said, you were able to revive me and carry me up here because of Final Attack."

" _Yes,_ " the Summon answered in a gentle, rumbling, blazing voice.

A crashing noise below her made her peer down over Phoenix's shoulder—to see Sora struggling to rise from a pile of rubble as Ifrit attacked her.

"That thing..." Winry scowled suddenly.

She reached into her pocket for the preliminary results of a little test she'd been working on with the dust from the Materia Al's experiments had destroyed. She had only taken the dust which was still glowing, and had begun forming cartridges filled with it, each with only one kind of Materia dust so far. She flipped through them until she found the 'Ice' ones, then checked her rifle—still attached to her back because of how she'd been leaning when Ifrit struck her—to see if they'd fit. (1) They would, though they'd be a bit loose because she'd made them for a handgun, not a rifle. Still, they would do. She'd probably ruin the rifle, though.

Quickly, she exchanged the rifle's normal bullets for the set of 'ice bullets' she'd made, then balanced herself and aimed at Ifrit as she muttered, "Well, I guess they're getting their trial run now, rather than at a safer time. Phoenix, please hold as steady as you can, just until I shoot."

Was she really going to try this with very little experience with shooting a gun? Well, she'd made her decision, and there was no real other way to do anything.

" _As you wish,_ " Phoenix agreed, shifting into a smooth, flowing glide.

"Please work. Please hit," the young woman breathed in a kind of prayer as she aimed at Ifrit for one last moment, then pulled the trigger and shot.

A trail of glittering sparkles followed the bullet down as a cube of ice grew around a large portion of the rifle barrel, but the bullet struck Ifrit in the back—and encased it in a block of ice.

Sora stared for a moment as the ice fell to the ground, but recovered quickly and used the opportunity to launch her own attack on the frozen fire Summon. Her collision with it shattered it, sending several pieces of Ifrit's extremities flying in all directions, still all encased in ice. What was left of Ifrit howled in rage and agony as Sora collided with him again, but the second collision ended the battle and Ifrit fell to the ground, still and silent as the light his body had been emitting dimmed and went out. The woman then turned her gaze upward to Phoenix.

"Whew. Looks like it's finally over. And I'm going to have to modify those bullets. Or use them in special guns..." Winry first breathed in relief, then began muttering absently as her mind began working on the problems presented by the ice bullet icing the barrel of her rifle.

" _You did well, Summoner,_ " Phoenix told her, a fondness in his voice.

"I had your help. Thank you, Phoenix," she replied with a smile at the bird's head as it circled progressively lower with Ifrit taken care of. She was glad to know the beings were truly sentient.

" _You are welcome, Child of Minerva. I will land now that the danger has passed,_ " the Summon informed her, still descending.

"Mhm. Thanks again," Winry agreed, turning her gaze back to her half-frozen rifle.

Soon, they landed not far from Sora, and Winry climbed down from Phoenix's back to make her way to the older woman. To her surprise, the Wutain pulled her into a fierce hug before releasing her, but as Sora was about to say something, Jessie ran up to them with a shout of Winry's name, crying as she threw her arms around the blond to hug her. Jessie's tears triggered a round of them from Winry as her own death and revival truly began to hit her, and Sora just rested her hand on the younger woman's shoulder—and left it there. Phoenix just waited patiently for them to calm down while his natural glow gave them light.

It would be a long wait before they'd be able to turn the Reactor back on and leave Deepground, so they all had time to calm down.

SH

Mei had known the attack was coming, she just hadn't been sure from where, so she hadn't been surprised when the building rocked during her free period, while she'd been in the library. She had always been sensitive to 'the veins of the dragon', so had always gleaned more from those flows than other people normally would.

What she hadn't been expecting was for Minerva to spark into her senses, invade her mind, and speak directly with her. The planetary entity _needed_ to shut down the power in the city before the monsters overran everyone, and she _needed_ to save the redeemed Calamity's child—both of them. It was so hard with the Reactors, but it was actually much easier with so many active Healers close at hand, but there was only one way she could save those two children. For that, she needed a host to carry her to them, and while there were others she could have chosen, Mei was singularly the best of those.

Even as she'd pointed out that the people in charge of the Reactors would probably turn them off, Mei had agreed to be the Lifestream's temporary host. Within a couple minutes of the rocking, she'd headed to the elevators and picked one, filled to the brim with Minerva's energy and not feeling quite like herself. Inside the elevator, she'd selected a floor at Minerva's bidding—the very top floor—then drew her kunais (she'd finally been able to find a replacement for them with Yufi's and Tseng's help) and threw them at the ceiling where the maintenance hatch was.

Using the Leviathan Yufi had hijacked for her some time ago to power her alkahestry, the screws had fallen out of the corners of the hatch and her daggers had fallen to the floor. She'd retrieved the daggers, nudged the screws into the seams between the floor and the curving, glass walls, and climbed onto the bannister below the maintenance hatch so she could push it out of the way and climb onto the elevator top. After replacing the hatch, she'd simply sat there as she'd stared upward, watching the cords and pulleys move as the elevator rose.

When it had reached the top floor and stopped, she'd shifted to her knees and peered around for a vent or other maintenance shaft—which she found soon after. She had climbed into the vent—it was still a pretty tight squeeze, but her Academy uniform made it easier as it had less material than her usual clothes—and had worked her way from there to the roof, all while hoping she wouldn't get hit in the battle between Vant, Qliphoth, and Hojo.

Then Sephiroth had joined them, and he and Qliphoth had moved to the roof to fight, both of the ones Minerva had needed her to help. She had pulled herself out of the vent and waited quietly for the time when Minerva wanted her to act.

She really didn't end up waiting that long, either.

SH

Hojo was definitely angry. Very angry. So was Jenova.

Vant had fought Hojo for a few more minutes after Sephiroth and Qliphoth had moved to the roof before the power in the Shinra building had _finally_ gone out.

The next thing he knew was that he was pinned to the wall with a hole in his gut which was filled by more than one of Hojo's tentacles. He stared down at hole and tentacles for a moment in disgusted (feeling tentacles wiggling around in one's body was singularly sickening), bemused horror. All this time in battle and Hojo had only now managed to do him _real_ damage? Somehow, that was also pretty amazing.

Suddenly, a voice spoke into his mind, _:I am taking over, host.:_ He knew the voice as Chaos'.

A moment later, dark light enveloped his body, shearing off the tentacles as he felt himself _change_. He couldn't see anything through the darkness, but the sensation of the change was so different from anything he'd felt before. Immediately, he knew it was nothing like the other transformations Hojo had given him, such as Galian Beast (Chaos had never felt like those), but it also didn't feel like his transformations to Chaos normally did. There was something uniquely different about it this time, and he couldn't put his finger on it, though now it felt like the transformation fit him properly.

All previous times he had become Chaos, the bestiality and wildness of the form—and his own loss of control—had caused him to associate Chaos with a being little better than a beast with no more sentience than a dog or Guard Hound. Since meeting Eden, however, he'd begun to see Chaos as a being less bestial and more protective, the shortcomings in his transformed state having been the result of his own resistance to those other forms, his own belief that he had been made into a monster. Now, he knew better. He wasn't a monster, and he was fairly sure Chaos wasn't, either.

Then, the darkness began to clear, and he watched it with further bemusement as he noted Chaos' awareness hovering at the back of his mind while sending him a sense of approval. For the first time, he was becoming Chaos without losing himself, his sanity—which made the truth of how his own beliefs had affected him hit home.

When the darkness cleared fully, his body had become purple-hued, somewhat more bony and lanky, a few feet taller, and had sprouted horns and bat-like wings. He had fangs and claws as well, but not prominently like the other features. The hole Hojo had left in his body had nearly fully closed over, and was still mending rapidly—a state which was obvious on his now barely-covered body, which apparently only wore a loincloth.

His gaze lifted to Hojo's stunned one as he leaned forward and gave the man a smirk. "Nice try, Hojo," he said quietly in amusement.

"Chaos! Vincent Valentine!" Hojo gasped, gaze suddenly comprehending and frightened—but fascinated at the same time.

The next attack Hojo launched at him tossed him right out through the wall, even as the man landed on top of him while trying to strangle him. Both fell through open air for several feet, until Chaos' wings caught them and his shadow power tossed the man away from him. As Hojo began falling in his Jenova hybrid form, he sprouted oddly deformed, butterfly-like wings and caught himself with them. Once the two were aloft independently, they eyed one another warily.

Until a shout not far above them sounded, and both looked up to see Sephiroth falling with Qliphoth on top of him, both of them caught in a struggle for Sephiroth's sword. They plunged rapidly towards the ground head-first—with no wings to catch them.

"Sephiroth!" Vant/Chaos shouted in alarm, diving towards them—only to snarl as Hojo hit him from the side with a vicious attack of his own. There was a manic grin on the mad scientist's face—

And Vincent/Vant/Chaos had had _enough_.

Shadow energy exploded from Chaos' body and began eating away Hojo's/Jenova's body very rapidly, much the way a corrosive acid would. Hojo apparently realized what was going on and shrieked in alarm before the sense of _Jenova_ flared and the light in Hojo's eyes went out to be replaced by a red-green glow. The Jenova body's deterioration slowed...

SH

Falling from the top of a seventy story building was _not_ Sephiroth's idea of a good way to end a battle. Unfortunately, Qliphoth didn't even seem to realize they _were_ falling and was still trying to claim Masamune, as though it would make a difference when they both went splat in a few seconds. Well, the total fall time was around fifteen seconds, and they'd been falling for three. Same difference to the end result.

A shout made him glance past Qliphoth—only for his eyes to widen as he saw Mei falling towards them twice as fast as he and Qliphoth were falling! She had eyes glowing so brilliantly green that the light from them was flaring almost like wings around her head and her expression seemed dazed and unaware.

She hit them in the next second, and both silver haired men gasped as light and energy flowed around and through them. With his vision nothing but white, Sephiroth blinked his eyes to try to clear them—but then green began outlining swirling bands of white. Mei appeared in front of his eyes, then a regal woman dressed in a white robe and gold armor lifted from the girl's body, allowing Mei to drop into his arms.

 _:Thank you, little child of mine,:_ the blond woman said to Mei—without moving her lips. A small, dazed nod and murmur was Mei's only reply, but then the woman looked up and met Sephiroth's gaze. _:I had once known you as the Calamity's Child, the Nightmare. You have truly come so far that you are one I welcome here. I no longer fear you, regardless of what you carry in your body. Knowing the Calamity as another of my kind would designate you as one of my children as well. The one made of you is also my child, and I have repaired his mind and body so he may have an opportunity to live his life, not as your shadow, but as himself. As he is now, he will need your protection, as he is small and helpless._

 _:Silver Sentinel, know that you need never fear for your own life so long as you remember to care, to always care about those around you. Help lead people down a new path, one of acceptance and tolerance, and never fear those lingering fragments of the Calamity within you, embrace them. You are their master, they are not yours, and at this moment, you have two other lives to save.:_ The light began to clear as she once more murmured, _:Embrace them.:_

When he could see again, he blinked because of several things he had to assess all in a moment. One was that he hadn't fallen at all during the time he had been in that space. Another was that both his arms held a weight, an unconscious Mei being one of them, and—a glace at the other showed him a baby who was about four months old, a boy with no clothing, a dusting of silver hair, and eyes just like his. The third was that there was a writhing mass of darkness above him, though as he watched in that moment, it shrunk and redirected to a specific point. Then he remembered they were falling, and if he didn't do something, Mei and the infant Qliphoth would die with him.

His mind flashed back to the words to 'embrace' Jenova's cells in his body, but to what end?

A moment later, he remembered Genesis' wings—and pain exploded along his back as the back of his shirt and coat tore. The pain vanished as quickly as it had come, and he felt the wind catch on something attached to his back as they stopped falling. All he needed to do was look back over his right shoulder to see one glossy, black wing sprouting from it. He then looked back up at the ball of shadows above him and realized he somehow recognized his father—Vincent, or Vant as he was now (or Chaos?)—in that energy, so carefully directed his wings to carry him back up to a point near it.

It was only once he stopped there that he realized he had tears running down his cheeks, but for the life of him, he had no idea _why_.

SH

When Vant felt the deterioration slow and saw more and more features on Hojo's body becoming something twisted and warped like Jenova would do, Vant asked Chaos how he could get more impact to shove back harder. Chaos showed him how to push harder on his own energy release while focusing it on a specific target, causing a struggle between Jenova's energy and Chaos' energy to ensue while all he could see was darkness and Jenova—

And then, they were both gone, both Hojo and Jenova.

The whole process had only taken about ten seconds.

Ten seconds too long.

He turned to seek out his son—only to stare in surprise as he saw him hovering several feet away with a black bird's wing sprouting from one shoulder, an unconscious Mei in one arm, a nude, four-month-old baby boy in the other—and tears streaming down his cheeks. As far as processing what had happened went, the tears could have been a pain reaction to the wing, and because he knew Genesis also had one, it wasn't a far cry to say Sephiroth had always had one laying in reserve as well.

However, there were two things he _couldn't_ process.

Where had Mei come from?

Where had _the baby_ come from?

"Sephiroth..." he began, but stopped. He wasn't even sure where to begin, what he wanted to say or ask first.

Giving his head a shake, the silver haired man replied, "Minerva used Mei to speak with me, and to repair Qliphoth's damaged mind and body. Her repairing him apparently reverted him to an infant state...She said he would need my protection, but you and my mother are his parents as well. I am...uncertain what to do or what I wish to do. And before making such a decision, we _need_ to assist the people in the city before too many more die."

At the words, both looked down into the darkened city, seeing with their enhanced sight how many of the monsters had converged around the base of the Shinra building, where battle was raging. A look up at the rooftop showed the President and Lunaria there, both of them watching the two men.

Making a sudden decision, Chaos/Vant said, "For now, it would be best to leave Mei and the baby in Lunaria's care. When Mei wakes, she should be capable of acting as their guard, and Lunaria will at least be capable of caring for the child for the moment."

With a nod, Sephiroth flew up to the two adults on the roof, set Mei on the inside of the two-foot wall, and handed the baby to Lunaria as he exchanged a few words with them. Vant/Chaos then watched as he flew back down to where he waited, and both agreed one of their first targets had to be the Evil Eyes and Evilgoyles, which Sephiroth immediately chose to go to the Slums to deal with. Vant/Chaos agreed to join him there once he'd given a hand to the people fighting to protect the Shinra building and taken care of the Evil Eyes and Evilgoyles Plate-side.

With that, both flew down into the city and parted ways.

 **Notes:**

(1) No, these aren't actually coming out of nowhere (neither is Phoenix, for that matter—Winry mentioned to Ed that Genesis had given her a gift). There was a chapter (47, 51 by FFN's numbering) where Al told Ed that Winry was taking the Materia dust which still had a magical glow to it to use in an experiment of her own. Also, they obviously still need quite a bit of work by the fact that they basically do to the gun what they do to the enemy at the other end of the shot. There's also the fact that Sora 'could' have beaten Ifrit on her own, it just would have been harder. Winry just isn't actually the kind to stand back and do nothing when there actually IS something she could do, and this was something she could do rather than just waiting around like she always had to do with Ed.


	64. 60-MiM: Finale

Monsters in Midgar: Finale

Riha and Ruluf had parted ways in the elevator, him to keep going down and her to head first to the Turks' supply room—she was going to need _a lot_ of bullets, for both her guns, so had to make sure she had the best gun there and a full bag of bullet cartridges. It didn't take her long to prepare what she needed, one like a large briefcase which she strapped on at her waist, one a large bag she had over her shoulder, and the last like a fair-sized pouch at her waist. With a wry grin at the familiarity of preparing for a military assignment back in Amestris, she headed down to the Hospital Wing floors first. There were some SOLDIERs and robo-soldiers there, and while a lot of damage had been done, things looked like they were under control, so her next stop was to check on the Media Department, where Kain would be.

On the way, she had to stare in surprise and ask herself if she really had just seen Mei sitting on the top of the other elevator as it rose towards the top floor.

She got to Media just in time to see several monsters about to break through the barricade Kain was shooting from behind. It only took her a moment to ready her handgun and begin shooting the monsters from behind, sending them into recovery. The department had taken a great deal of damage, and she could see several dead bodies, just in the line between her and Kain.

"How are you doing, Kain?" she called to him as he shot down one last Blood Taste.

"Whew..." he muttered tiredly, bushing a hand over his eyes under his glasses, then over his forehead. "Tired. That was a shock. I'm—I have a minor scratch from one of the monsters, but I can't remember when I got it, but otherwise...it's mostly the rest of the department who have suffered for this. What's going on, Riha?"

"Monster outbreak of a very unusual strain," she told him. "They're most troublesome for their recovery states and abilities, but they _can_ be defeated. Unfortunately, they're all over the building, the Upper Plate, and the Slums, so our forces are spread thin and I'm mainly going to be on sniping detail. Are you fine from here or is there something you need?"

Others began looking over the tables flipped onto their sides which served as the barricade as the other man replied, "More bullets would be nice."

She gave him a faint grin and opened the pouch at her waist to pull out several clips as she asked, "Think this will do?"

"I have no idea if they'll be enough, but they'll be better than what I had. If you need to snipe, you'd better head out," Kain told her as she tossed the clips to him. He caught most of them, and the last few landed behind the barricade. As the monsters had begun rousing, he added, "Get going." He had aimed and shot at the first monster to rise in the next moment.

When the noise of the gun faded, Riha said, "Good luck, then. I'll see you after this is over." He gave a wave as she turned to go.

Ruluf had already gone to the Academy, so she simply headed out of the building and made her way through the streets, using her handgun to help some Infantry and others who were fighting the monsters as she went. It wasn't like she had to 'find' the best place to shoot from, as there was one building about two blocks from the Shinra building which was much taller than the buildings between it and said building. She'd be able to see and target everything within about six blocks of the top of that building, so that was where she was headed. Several of the townspeople she'd helped on her way trailed after her, including one who was an aged martial artist (1) who had been doing a decent job against the monsters, largely only running into a problem with the numbers.

She entered the building and they kept following her, right to the stairwell and up to the roof of the building, where she moved to the edge of the roof to scan the city. As she moved along the edge of the roof to look for just the right spot, she said, "Since you decided to follow me, make yourselves useful and keep the Evil Eyes and Evilgoyles from attacking me while I'm sniping the others."

"I can do that," the martial artist said.

A moment later, Riha found she'd gone too far and moved back a few steps. There, she scanned the city again, gave a nod, and knelt to pull out and assemble the high-powered sniper rifle. The civilians with her gave impressed sounds as she put it together, bracing it with a special stand on the very edge of the roof (in some ways, she _loved_ Shinra's military technology!). She inserted the first cartridge and braced herself in a kneeling position so she could aim properly. It didn't take much more than that for her to begin targeting and shooting down monsters, sending them into recovery all over the area.

There was no way she was moving from her current location, regardless of Tseng calling her 'roaming'. There was nowhere else in the city where she'd have this clear and wide of a range, and travel would take too long, especially in 'hostile territory'. Also, there was no guarantee she'd have someone to guard her back as she handled the monsters in her range if she left where she was now.

And the man proved his martial arts skill and his willingness to guard her back as he took on—and took down—an Evilgoyle not long after.

Her PHS ringing to let her know she had a text message caused her to release the sniper rifle for a moment to check it, and saw the note about the power going out and the monsters heading for Shinra Headquarters when it did. Since she could already clearly target three quarters or more of the area around the building, she knew she was definitely staying where she was. Quickly, she went back to shooting down monsters.

Then the power began going out, and she blinked as the sky darkened somewhat during the middle of the day. It hadn't gotten too dark for her to see or target, but—how had the _sky_ gotten darker?

"Looks like all the city power's out," the martial artist commented, voice worried.

"How can you tell?" one of the other civilians, a young teen, asked.

"The Reactors aren't spewing smog anymore," the man answered. "If the monsters did this, we're screwed."

"They didn't," Riha answered.

"How can you be so sure?" someone else, another man, asked, a frown in his voice.

"I can be because my boss wouldn't have known about the outage to warn me about it unless Shinra's own people shut them down—to prevent them from being directly assaulted, for example. Though, with the monsters all gravitating to the Shinra building—the last place where there _is_ power—I'd hazard a guess and say the monsters are attracted to electrical sources or Mako, or both. Shutting them down then deprives them of that, which both saves the Reactors and gives us a chance to get them all into one place to take care of them," Riha explained calmly around shots.

A look around the city quickly showed all the civilians that the only building with power was Shinra's, so they fell silent and allowed her to keep doing her job—even as the power in Shinra Headquarters went out and the monsters kept mobbing it anyway.

SH

Tseng was beginning to wonder if his illusion stones were actually prophetic after some of the data the blue one had given him. Clarity was one thing, but these ones were telling him to take certain actions to open paths to the best possible outcome. Was that part of the influence of the 'time' effect on clarity? If it was, he had a whole lot to learn about the pair, and in the meantime, they were becoming a Goddess-send.

When he'd first gotten to floor sixty-six with Lunaria, there had been several monsters there, and he'd been required to start killing them. To his surprise, Lunaria had helped a bit using lingering 'features' Jenova had left her with—a clawed hand or a tentacle which quickly vanished again and were the same color as her skin. She didn't do it much, really only enough to stay alive if he wasn't quite quick enough. A few times, she even stabbed one with a Tranquilizer, which made him chuckle in spite of himself.

However, as they had been working their way around the floor, he had suddenly been informed by the blue stone that it would be best to send the woman to check on Vant and the President. He had done so, but still had no clear idea why—only that it had apparently been important. When Sephiroth had shown up there to help him with the pair of black Blood Tastes he'd been working on, he had requested the man's help to finish clearing the floor, and the silver haired SOLDIER had agreed. He hadn't seen the man since then, but the floor was clear.

He'd taken a moment to send messages to all the Turks in the city that when the power went out, they were to head for the foot of the Shinra building, where the monsters were going to gather. A few checked it right away, some checked later, three apparently didn't check at all (Alvis, Maur, and Kariya), and one didn't go through (Vant). It worried him, but he still had other things he needed to do, like checking on Palmer and the new Weapons head, so he headed into Palmer's first, as that was where he'd been nearest to when he'd met Sephiroth.

Palmer was badly injured while the Weapons Department head tried to stem the flow of blood from one of the worst gaping wounds. When a Full Cure didn't help the man, the blue stone gave him the input to know it would be at least five hours before the hospitals—any of them in the city—would be capable of taking any patients. Knowing that was too long with Palmer's injuries, Tseng shot him to end his suffering and the prolonged death he'd have had otherwise. (2) He then cast a Full Cure on the Weapons head (he'd also been injured, but Full Cure had worked for the most part) and several others who had come to see what was going on once the monsters had been taken care of. Most were injured, and some had left injured companions to get help, so Tseng went with them to heal anyone still alive. Two more he'd had to grant a mercy killing to, but the others he could save.

By then, the city power was out and they were just waiting on the Shinra building's power to go out, so he called Lazard to tell him to redirect everyone he could, except the Turks, to the building, then took the elevator to head to the main floor lobby. The blue stone activated again to tell him to get off the elevator, so he got off on the next floor, which was eleven—and almost as soon as he did, the power went out. As such, he headed for the stairs to go the rest of the way to the front of the building.

When he stepped outside to face the monsters he knew would be there, he glanced around to see Zack, several other SOLDIERs, Emma, Kariya (where was Maur?), and some Infantrymen. There were even some of Weapons' robo-soldiers and machine guards, the most notable being some sort of scorpion-like monstrosity. As he saw random monsters going down across the battlefield, he tried to search for where the bullets were coming from, but it was rather difficult to track their trajectory. He could safely say Riha was behind the sniping, though, and he was in awe of the true skills a born sniper had—Freyra was good, but not nearly so good as Riha was proving to be.

More and more monsters were joining them as he fought alongside the building's other defenders—

 _Where the Hellfire_ had Hojo gotten _so damned many_ monsters?

It was somewhat odd that the monsters were still all focused on the building with the power out, but at least they were easier to kill—if there weren't so, so many of them...

The burden was lessened as Illis, Kain, and Ruluf stepped outside, followed by a large portion of the Academy students in the combat classes, and they all joined the fight with the intent to kill the monsters. Many seemed to be venting on the monsters, letting him know they had lost someone they were close to. What he _didn't_ see were any of their kids, not even Yufi, who should have been with Illis.

"The kids, Ruluf, Illis?" he asked of them as they paused by him to pick their best places to fight.

"We can't find Mei, and Alphonse just—virtually wiped out every monster left on the Academy floors in an instant, so we agreed to let them clear the rest of the building as they searched for Mei while we helped out here. Honestly, without the Reactors stifling him, Alphonse easily has skills as impressive as Eden's, and they're in no danger with him there now," Ruluf answered.

"I see. That's a boon right now," Tseng agreed with a small sigh.

They were all just so tired, and the Academy students, who hadn't been spending the last few weeks in steady battle, were turning out to be their saving grace. Oh, the irony.

Tseng sighed once more as he looked out at the battlefield again, noting how many monsters there still were. So many of them, so many more than Hojo should have been able to create, even if they included the labs outside the city...

So many people had died, and he had a terrible feeling it wasn't just unknown civilians this time—which would have been bad enough.

A sudden shriek above them made the monsters cringe—then a purple-skinned, bat-winged humanoid shrouded in shadows plunged into the middle of the battlefield, wiping out over half the monsters in that one blow. A moment later, it was back in the air, shooting balls of shadowy energy at the Evil Eyes and Evilgoyles which caused them to dissolve. Apparently, the flying monsters couldn't dodge those bolts, so it took him—maybe about two minutes to kill them all. Once they had been taken care of, the winged humanoid flew away, heading for the city outskirts.

"...What was that?" Emma asked in a slightly dazed tone as she stopped beside him to reassess her best place to shoot from with the change in the battlefield. Ruluf and Illis were still standing with him, and Kariya had stepped back from the immediate battle zone.

All of the Turks watched in some bemusement as Zack quite happily and single-handedly tore through what was left of the monsters. Well, more accurately, he was killing about a fifth of the ones he hit and just sending the rest flying so everyone else got to take a short breather—even he couldn't literally kill them _all_.

"...I think that was Chaos. That is, Vant's strongest transformation," Tseng replied after a pause, and the blue illusion stone was apparently in agreement with the thought.

"...Vant..." Illis muttered. "He's been holding that in reserve this whole time?"

Zack was still going without showing any signs of exhaustion, so Kariya and Emma actually sat down on the stairs to rest, and some others from the Infantry joined the two of them.

"Chaos is...not to be used carelessly. The world must be perilously close to destruction right now for him to be in that form," Tseng sighed softly. "We're running out of time..."

The others traded alarmed looks, then returned to the battle at hand, even as one Private—a man Tseng greeted as Private Liam Roach—approached to ask for a flare to go up above the battlefield. Tseng asked Kariya to provide—

And almost as soon as the light flared above the monsters, several ranks of them were mowed down by bullets from behind them, courtesy of the Infantry.

After that, the battle progressed much more quickly.

SH

It had truly begun to feel like an endless battle in the Slums. Izumi was tired and her body was rebelling against what she was putting it through, but there were still more monsters, more and more and more of them. Their ammo was starting to get down, and their only real saving grace was the Materia some of Gaia's Refuge's people and some of the mercenaries had. Well, that and those who had weapons which didn't need ammunition to work.

Then the power had gone out—and all the monsters had gone into some sort of panic frenzy, making them more deadly in the moment, but much easier to kill. Some got back up a second time after the power went out, but most of them stayed down, and oddly enough, they were all breathing pure, clean air now. Izumi knew she _had_ to rest, but there were still so many monsters, even if they only needed to be killed once now, and most of the others weren't a fraction as good as her at fighting the several Abyss Worms and Death Claws coming up from below them.

That was besides how most of the others couldn't tell they were there before they came up, but she could feel the vibrations from their movement and was able to shout the pending attack so others could dodge.

However, once the power went out and everyone realized the monsters were dying in one kill now (which admittedly took several minutes with the last few double revivers), Elmyra marched up behind her, seized her arm, and dragged her back to the civilian area so she could rest, saying, "You've been fighting the hardest and the longest, so you get the first rest."

At about that time, machines of various strange configurations and bearing the Shin-Ra logo began dropping into the mess, many of them in the basic form of some sort of monster and generally quite mobile. They only attacked the monsters or a human who directly attacked them, so ended up becoming reasonable battle partners for the civilians fighting in Wall Market.

"But I—" Izumi began, trying to get up and go back to the front lines.

"Sit down and shut up!" Elmyra ordered sharply with a glare, making Izumi blink in surprise. "You aren't the only one fighting, and it's obvious you need to rest—you're bleeding, did you know? Also, Felicia just called me to tell me they're heading this way, everyone combat-capable in the Slums, because this area had the most monsters and they're done with the rest now that the power's out. And we have Shinra machine help now, too."

The words about her bleeding instinctively made her reach up to touch her chin, and sure enough, she found a trail of blood from the corner of her mouth. Elmyra handed her a handkerchief to wipe the blood off with, and she obediently took it to do so, knowing she _had_ to rest.

At that moment, two more Death Claws popped out of the ground to either side of a recently-killed Abyss Worm—but before anyone could react and before the Death Claws were able to attack, General Sephiroth descended on them from above. They were dead in the next moment, as were several other nearby monsters, and everyone could only stare in surprise at the single, black wing sprouting from his right shoulder blade. He took to the air a moment later, quickly targeting other Abyss Worms and Death Claws, and when those were down, he began attacking the Evil Eyes and Evilgoyles from right in the air with them. After he'd defeated many of those, he flew away in the direction of Sectors 5 and 4.

"That was General Sephiroth, wasn't it?" a familiar voice asked from nearby as members of Gaia's Refuge joined the fight, ordering the civilians to rest. Izumi looked up at Felicia as several people nearby gave resounding 'yeses'.

"I guess this is a day for surprises," Izumi commented to the woman.

"So it seems," Felicia agreed. "The majority of the monsters in the Slum Sectors seem to be here, so everyone is gradually moving in this direction. One Turk for sure, some SOLDIERs, mercenaries like Amal, and my own people all have those instructions, because what you've got here in Wall Market is easily what there was in all the other Sectors combined. We even acquired several of what would normally be criminals. Thanks for establishing this zone here, though, or the death toll would likely be a lot higher." That said, she turned to join the battle, easily taking Izumi's place in it with her sword skills and Materia.

Above them, the remaining Evil Eyes and Evilgoyles began shrieking—only for them all to fall silent as some sort of half-formed shadow in the twilight below the Plate devoured them. With the flying monsters gone from the air, that left them the monsters on the ground, and those were going down fast as more and more combat personnel made their way into Sector 6.

By the time all was said and done, there was a red haired Turk (who had an odd look in his eyes), a Turk she vaguely knew as Vant, several SOLDIERs of varying ranks, Amal, Mick, and Shears, Sephiroth (who had rejoined them there after whatever he had left to do), and several other random assortments of people. Izumi found both Naomi and Ken sitting in her lap—or rather, sleeping in it—so she stayed seated and let the others fight. Until then, she hadn't really realized how many people were willing to go out of their way to protect others, and hadn't realized people like the Turks and SOLDIERs were just as willing to do so as Gaia's Refuge.

When the monsters were finally defeated and the cheering started, she was still left with the question of what was going to happen with the clean-up and the power supply. It surprised her to see all the people from Shinra and Gaia's Refuge with PHS's out as they apparently coordinated things, and people began splitting away from the group. Sephiroth even took to the air again, quickly disappearing from sight while Felicia apparently stayed there to keep track of incoming data.

After some time, most of the PHS's went away as Felicia made a call just long enough to say, "Lower Plate Sectors One through Eight clear," then hung up.

And finally, finally, after over three hours without power anywhere in the city, it came back on.

 **Notes:**

(1) This is Zangan, the martial artist who taught Tifa to fight in the original story line. Since he wouldn't arrive in Nibelheim until after Cloud had left it, the Tifa Ed sparred with was one who had next to no training (though she had a little self-taught skill), and he was largely her first combat instructor, followed by necessity when she and Cloud left the town. In other words, Zangan is still a highly skilled martial artist, but Tifa now won't be his student, and her actual skills are very different in this timeline.

(2) Tseng is taking this action because he knows through the blue illusion stone that there is no chance these people will get help on time, and leaving them alive to die slowly would be akin to torture. No, he's not enjoying it and doesn't want to have to, but he would rather spare them the pain than cause them more suffering. If he'd had no way to know the timing, or if he'd felt there was a chance the injured individual could have gotten help on time, he wouldn't have done this.


	65. 61-MiM: Result

Monsters in Midgar: Result

The battle outside the Shinra building had finally wound down, and Tseng sat down on the steps as he took out his PHS. Admittedly, after what he and Eden had done on the President's office balcony during the Wutain Invasion, this hadn't drained him so much. It hadn't been so intensive or rapid, and because of Chaos' three-minute support, it had actually not taken as long. There had been pauses to rest, even if those pauses were only a minute or two at a time, and—there had been more than two people fighting them all.

However, their work wasn't done yet.

He dialed Lazard's number, and the man picked up with the words, "Did you know your command center door doesn't open without power?"

The Wutain gave an amused snort and said, "It does, you'd just have to be familiar enough with the room to find a flashlight and activate the manual override. In the meantime, since our phones still work, I need you to coordinate a sweep for monsters. In the building, you're going to have to get in touch with people like Thirds Valentine and Strife—they're with the Academy student doing the most monster clearing in there—or other SOLDIERs you sent to other floors. We have to be sure they're _all_ dead before we turn the power back on."

"And besides the mercenaries and SOLDIERs in the Slums—there aren't very many to coordinate that with—do you have any ideas of who I could ask?"

"Chief Felicia Pereld, the leader of Gaia's Refuge. They have a significant presence there, so would be your better bet. They also are best equipped to coordinate with everyone else you have down there right now. I'll forward you her number."

Lazard gave a small sigh and said, "I'll contact her, first, to get her to do that for me, then get started on arranging the sweep on the Upper Plate. Use the time to rest."

"I had planned to," Tseng agreed. "Thanks."

They both hung up, then the Wutain Turk typed Felicia's PHS number into a text message and sent it to Lazard. Around him, everyone else began finding places to sit as well, the Turks gathered around him and the SOLDIERs gathered around Zack nearby. The students began heading back inside the building, finding places in there to sit or going back to the Academy floors to find their friends. Most of the Infantry, civilians, criminals, and mercenaries who had helped them sat or laid down where they were, obviously just as exhausted as the rest.

At that moment, Tseng remembered a thought from earlier and reached over to rest a hand on Kariya's shoulder. It shocked him to feel a flinch at the touch. "Kariya, where's Maur?" he asked quietly. Kariya looked up at him with a pained gaze and gave his head a shake before dropping his head into his hands, elbows braced on his knees.

A moment later, all the other Turks drew in sharp breaths as they realized what the reaction meant—Maur was dead.

Rubbing his eyes to ward off tears, Tseng said quietly, "We will have to talk about that later, Kariya." He wasn't quite able to keep the pain out of his voice. "We have to finish cleaning up the monsters, first, though." Kariya just gave a nod into his hands.

Soon after, Lazard began coordinating the sweep of the city, and Tseng found he was impressed by the man's memory of intra-Sector area lines, as he knew the man was sitting in a completely black room with no available reference material. It didn't take long to allocate people to searches, but it took significantly longer to actually complete the searches. Finally, after nearly three hours, he was able to call Winry and give her the okay to turn all the Reactors back on. Like when all the power went out, the Reactors which were restored first were the eight city Reactors, which caused a flurry of activity as everything began working again. The first out were the emergency personnel.

The second problem they had was that criminals—ones who hadn't participated in the defense of the city—were robbing various homes and stores, and sometimes harming or killing people. It had happened in the Slums, too, though not so severely as there was far less of value there. They had noticed and stopped as much of that as they could during the sweep, but the problem persisted even after the power came back on, so it ended up taking over five more hours before things settled down again. Of course, that just drained everyone even more, and even _Zack_ was starting to look tired by then—and they were all _starving_ , having all missed lunch and supper with the time being around eight in the evening.

It was also during that time when they found out most of the Infantry commanders had either hightailed it out of the city or gone into hiding in it, leaving only low-ranking privates and cadets for the most part. Some of those had fled (in the cadets' case, that was actually understandable because they had next to no training), but their one saving grace had been Private Liam Roach, who had not only stayed and rallied others to do so, but had acted as their commanding officer. He had boosted their morale, given them reasons to fight, created a functioning plan of attack and distribution of forces, and led them into battle, an act which had preserved a large part of the Infantry. Everyone who had positions of power had noted his ability and honor, and there was a good chance he was going to be promoted to a rather high rank soon.

At least the power in Shinra Headquarters came back on about fifteen minutes after they had given the okay, and their hospital facilities were able to be put into functional use sooner than many of the ones in the city. It also meant the kitchen and food facilities were functional by evening, and the cafeteria made an extra-large meal which they served late. Danger passed, nearly everyone employed by Shinra went to eat, then went to sleep, all fully clothed and by merely falling into their beds, ignoring any holes in their floors and ceilings for the time being. Most of them slept late, but Tseng still managed to get to the office by nine in the morning, tired or not (though he thankfully didn't feel _too_ tired).

In his case, though, that was because his blue stone had told him to get up and get down there. He found out why when he saw Reno standing at the main office window, the reflection in the glass showing a blank gaze...and his shoulders were trembling.

"Reno?" he asked as he approached the other young man.

At first, there was no reaction, then the red haired Turk gave his head a shake. "I was right, yo. This ain't no game, an' I can't pretend it is. Even what I saw in Deepground didn' prepare me for seein'—" Reno paused, then sighed, closing his eyes. "Every time I close my eyes, I see that Death Claw tearin' him apart, Tseng."

"...Him?" the Wutain asked with a sinking feeling.

"Alvis."

For a moment, Tseng just felt—like he was about to fall over, like vertigo. Then, he stepped forward and rested a hand on Reno's shoulder, making the younger of them shake his head and give his eyes a rub. Reno and Alvis had been like brothers just as much as Eden and Alphonse were, and of all the Turks, Reno had spent the most time with the other red haired teen. After all, they used the same weapon, but Reno had two years more experience than Alvis, so he had been the one to train him—and not just in EMR use, but many other Turk skills as well. How much it would have hurt Reno to see him die would easily have been as bad or worse than Kariya seeing Maur's death.

"It's not shameful to cry over losing someone you cared about, Reno," he said softly, wrapping an arm around the younger Turk's shoulders. Reno turned to press his face into the Wutain's shoulder, quietly sobbing after having held it in for as long as he had. Tseng also let tears fall, because both Alvis and Maur had been people he had cared about as well, and he needed to release some of that feeling.

It took them both almost an hour to stop crying, and the office was still empty, so Tseng released a small sigh and said, "You should try to sleep, Reno. It might not be easy right now, but you'll need the rest. We'll all need the rest."

"Heh," Reno snorted faintly, a bit of amusement laced into his voice. "Must be the first time you've told me ta sleep in the middle of the day, Bossman."

"We're not going to get much done today besides more clean-up, so you may as well. It looks like you were up all night."

The younger Turk paused, then sighed and pushed back from the Wutain. "Yeah. Thanks, yo." He wandered somewhat absently from the office—as President Shinra and Kariya walked into the room.

Tseng quickly wiped his face with one hand and put on a stony mask as he asked, "What can I do for you, President Shinra?"

"It looks like your sudden influx of Turks may not have been 'unwarranted' after all, given how it seems you lost at least one of yours by that redhead's behavior. Regardless, I need a full report on the incident, then I need to get in touch with Rufus to let him know what to expect when he and his escorts return," the blond man stated. "We have several holes to fill now as well, in many departments, and I need some of your assessments of individuals who may be able to fill the roles. How soon do you think you can get everything to me?"

Pausing to think about what the President was asking for (wasn't the man just cold towards all the deaths?), Tseng assessed how quickly he could possibly find and organize everything the man wanted. Finally, he said, "Between Chief Pereld, Director Lazard, and myself, we should be able to have a functional basic report ready by the end of the day. A more detailed report will take at least three days. In the meantime, I should also have assessments of some people to you by the end of the day if you send me lists of individuals you have in mind and a list of positions which need filling."

"Good enough. By your usual quality of a 'functional report' that should be enough for me to allocate funds and support in required amounts. Oh, I've already chosen Director Lazard Deusericus and Doctor Page Blythe as Heidegger's and Hojo's replacements, so you don't have to worry about them." Shinra then huffed and added irritably, "That fool Hojo, slaughtering nearly the whole department. Blythe will have just as much work to do finding enough new assistants to keep the current department work from falling apart." He looked back up at Tseng and gave a nod. "I'll tell you right now, your priorities are finding someone to take the SOLDIER Director's place and Palmer's place, and I have no ideas about either of those. I'll be waiting for your reports and assessments, and I'll forward you a further list of what I need filled within the hour."

As soon as the man was gone, Kariya—whose gaze was pained—commented, "That guy's a right piece of work. It's not a wonder Eden assessed him the way he did."

"I can't deny that," Tseng sighed. "Maybe this isn't the best time with all the work I now have to do, but...How did Maur die?"

"...The Behemoth began transforming into a King Behemoth about the same time the power in the city went out. Maur didn't realize that while he was pinned by its paw, so he use a Quake Fist on it—and got hit with Flare at point-blank range. There's not a fuck of a lot that can block a counter, and that close...he was ash. Just...blackened ash," Kariya explained, reaching up to rub his eyes tiredly, but Tseng knew he was also wiping away tears.

With a small sigh, Tseng replied softly, "I see. That Behemoth must have been pretty old to have transformed...We could never have known that would happen. And with Alvis gone, too..." He was silent for a moment before his shoulders slumped a bit and he asked, "Would it be too much to ask you for your help right now? I sent Reno away because he didn't sleep last night after seeing Alvis die...If you're not ready, either, you can go."

The older man looked up at him, but didn't say anything, so the Wutain turned to go to his office. It was logical to the think the man would want to mourn, at least for one day, so he felt he would be working alone until the others started getting in after waking. And their help would be iffy as well after the two good Turks they'd just lost. He sat at his office desk tiredly and gave his eyes a rub before turning towards the shelves for the forms he would need—only to find Kariya quietly handing them to him.

"I'm not the only one who lost someone, Tseng," Kariya said quietly as the Wutain blinked at him in clear surprise. "You did, too. We all did. Sure, we could all take the easy way out and just not work, but all that would do—is destroy _you_. I've lost people before, people I cared about. People die, Tseng. It's when we lose the people we care about that we need to support one another the most. The President forcing you to work on such tight deadlines when _you need_ to mourn—I can't let you carry that burden alone. I think once Reno's rested, he'll be back to help you, too. I think all the Turks will. Even with our own pain."

Slowly, Tseng reached up to take the papers, then gave a faint, sad smile and said, "Thank you, Kariya. I think one of the first things I need you to find out is what happened to Vant while he was with the President and Hojo—everything that happened there is a blank to me."

"I can answer some of that," a woman's voice commented—only to be punctuated by a baby's soft coo. Both looked up to see Lunaria in the doorway with a four-month-old baby in a cute, green onesie in her arms.

Tseng blinked as Kariya cocked his head to the side and asked, "So...you and Vant already managed to make another kid, Doctor? Pretty quick, ain't it?"

The woman gave a derisive snort and said, "Well, he is genetically mine and Vant's anyway, but no. Hojo cloned him from Sephiroth's genes, and for some reason, the Lifestream decided to fix the damage Hojo had done to him. (1) Incidentally, that reduced him to the age he should be based on when he was created—that is, four months. We already found as many of Hojo's records as we could on the experiments he released into Midgar, including 'Subject Q's'. However, we can't technically claim him without alerting the President—and everyone else in Shinra—to the fact that we aren't the 'identities' you gave us. Sephiroth, being his genetic origins, may be able to sway who gets him in the end, but I think for now, he'll have to stay in the labs. At least until it's safe for us to take him—and I don't think Sephiroth, Vant, or Anthony will say no to being his family once the coast is clear."

"So what can you tell us about the situation and what Hojo did?" Tseng asked.

The black haired woman moved over to sit across from the Wutain, settling the baby in her lap as she said, "Well, let's just start with Hojo throwing a tantrum when the power began going out." She explained what had taken place in the President's Office, right up to Mei's arrival, Sephiroth sprouting a black wing, and Chaos defeating Jenova. After that, she went on with what they had found in his notes. "Hojo had basically pumped all of his remaining raw Jenova cells into his body before they could be used to make more SOLDIER infusions since all the pre-made infusions had been taken from him. He then mostly used the Jenova cells from his body to enhance the monsters, and to experiment with a new cloning effect."

"A new cloning effect?" the two Turks blinked.

"Exactly," she agreed. "It causes growth from inception to adulthood in about seven hours. At least, physically it does. In a monster, that doesn't mean anything beyond them being more irritable, but for a human or humanoid, like this little one or the Makonoids, it affects their sanity and mental state because they 'grew up' too fast and their minds couldn't keep up with it. They also still have the genetic damage caused by cloning which causes the body to age and die faster. So basically, Hojo fertilized a bunch of monster eggs, cloned them with this method, and put the result in the crates he left around the city, where they laid dormant until the process completed—only his original experimental subjects, like the two Behemoths, had actually been tranquilized."

"Did he happen to say why he killed everyone on those floors, why he endangered the city this way?" Tseng asked.

"He was angry because the people he felt he owned weren't cooperating with him, and he didn't want anyone to be able to stop them—Jenova's influence was behind that, because monsters like those could have easily razed the world if we hadn't had clever Vant get the data on their weakness. He didn't care about the world's fate, though, that much is obvious. Jenova was also directing so many monster attacks leading up to this incident, specifically because she wanted us tired and unable to keep fighting them. She'd have gotten her wish with this, and Hojo wanted to know if his theories were right, and if he got to find out the truth behind Chaos and Omega Theory in the process, he was fine with that, too," Lunaria explained.

"Well, that's quite an extreme reaction to not getting a few subjects," Kariya commented as Tseng pinched the bridge of his nose tiredly.

"Hojo has never played well with others," Lunaria replied, sounding amused.

"Well, that answered most of what I need for the preliminary reports," the Wutain sighed. "Did he happen to leave a list of their locations?"

"He did. I can forward it to you. How much will you put in your report?" the woman asked.

"If what you said is true, Shinra saw Vant become Chaos, so likely knows Vant is Vincent Valentine," Tseng said. "I'll need to ask him. We may not be able to hide Mei's status as a Cetra, either, after that. With the known ties between you and Vant, the President may demand to know exactly who you are, and I don't think that could be hidden with Blythe and Kedran's knowledge of both yours and the baby's—Sephiroth's—genetics. If that would actually be detrimental to any of us, I don't know, but Mei and Alphonse are still the ones in the most danger of being harmed. We'll have to work out the details once President Shinra indicates to me how much he knows. In the meantime, thank you for your help, and I really _do_ have a lot of other work to do for the end of the day."

With a nod, Lunaria rose. "I won't keep you, then. Let me know what to expect as you find out what you need to know."

"I will, thanks," the Wutain agreed absently as he began working on the paperwork in front of him. She left with the baby as he looked back up at Kariya. "With that answered—mostly—could I ask you instead to search Heidegger's home and office for anything which may explain his sudden insanity yesterday?"

"Will do, then. Call me if you need anything," the older man agreed and turned to go.

"And Kariya," Tseng added, making the man pause. "Find time to visit your daughters. Hopefully today."

"...I will," Kariya agreed with a faint smile, then left.

It was bound to be a long few days.

SH

Since arriving home the day before, after the power had come back on, Izumi hadn't had the strength to get up. She knew Ken and Naomi were confused, as she'd never behaved like that around them before (she'd never been strained so badly before around them, either), but there was nothing she could do. Like she'd always done, she'd wait for the weakness to pass and get on with life as normal, but in the meantime, she just needed to rest. There was no one who could help her, anyway, so other than getting Naomi to help by fetching cereal for all three of them, everything else _had_ to wait.

Suddenly, as it was approaching ten in the morning, the door opened and a familiar voice called, "Are you here, Aunt Izumi, Ken, Naomi?"

"Balto!" both of the kids cried, running for him. She had to smile in faint amusement as she heard their feet pounding on the floor—then blink as Naomi added worriedly and urgently, "Mom can't get up!"

"Show me," the man said. Shortly after, Naomi appeared in the doorway to her 'mother's' room, Balto and Ken right behind her. The older man stepped into the room as his sharp gaze moved over her, then—before Naomi could say anything—he told the older woman, "You over-extended yourself in the monster attack."

Her lips quirked in faint amusement and she admitted tiredly, "I didn't have much choice." Izumi's gaze moved to the two kids as she added, "I had two very precious people to protect." She met his gaze again to say, "You look upset."

"We...Rude and I were called back from our targets outside the city to mourn at least one of ours who died in the attack. When I saw the damage to the city, my first thought was to check on you—I haven't even gotten to the office yet. I don't have all the details yet. Has Zack been by yet?" Balto asked.

"No, no one has come by since Shears escorted us back here," Izumi replied.

In response, Balto pulled out his PHS and dialed a number. When it was answered, he asked, "Why haven't you been by to check on our Aunt yet?" After a fairly lengthy silence, he sighed and said, "Fine. Make sure you bring plenty of food back with you, because she's not going to be fit to cook for awhile." Another, shorter pause followed, then Balto scowled, "Zack, she's going to recover just fine, you know that. Don't freak out—you're giving SOLDIER a bad name." After another pause, he replied, "Fine. See you later, then," and hung up.

Izumi's brow had quirked in confusion at the initial call, but had realized soon enough that it was Zack he'd called—'our Aunt' had pretty much given it away. "So, you're making him into a delivery boy?" she asked in faint amusement.

"I am," Balto agreed. "He hasn't come to see you yet because he's the only functional SOLDIER left in the city to do any of the missions and assignments Lazard has. The rest have pretty much crashed in exhaustion, and even Sephiroth isn't awake yet. From what I gather, the Turks are in no better shape right now. You can't get up, and it's no good for my niece and nephew to eat cereal all day, so since Zack's up there and has to make his way down here—probably around noon, he said—it would make sense for him to pick up food on the way. I'll stay and help with the kids and household chores until he gets here, then I'll have to go report in."

"All right," she agreed tiredly, then gave a small sigh. "I hate feeling this weak..."

"We all do," he answered wryly. "Stay in bed and rest. Call if you need anything. In the meantime, I'll be with the kids."

"Thanks..." she murmured as he led the pair from the room.

She was starting to realize 'family' actually was very useful, but more than that—it was nice to be able to rely on someone besides herself for a change. She had with Sig, but it had been limited to him, and other than Ed and Al, no one else had been someone she even could have relied on. Having Balto, Zack, and most of her new 'extended family' in Gongaga to depend on was a novelty, and while she'd thought at first that she'd feel weak by accepting their help—she didn't feel weak at all by doing so. And for Balto to have skipped reporting in to check on her told her she had truly been accepted as family by them. She was the only one still holding out.

Maybe it was time to move forward and accept her new family fully?

 **Notes:**

(1) Logically, Qliphoth could have become the 'Nightmare' Sephiroth if he wasn't stopped, because while Sephiroth had rejected Jenova, Qliphoth hadn't. This incident would have been enough to push the clone over the edge, also because he was grown far to rapidly for him to have his full mental capacities—he only barely had a brain advanced enough to grasp language and copy the things he was being shown, not to think independently. For Minerva to stop that outcome and finally break the ties Jenova had to the world, she needed to fix Qliphoth, or the results later would have been easily as bad as anything Sephiroth did in the original timeline.


	66. Insert: Materia Fusion Paper

**A/N:** Warning! Don't read this if you don't like reading a bunch of scientific details and calculations! It won't impact the story—this is mainly for those readers who like to know hows and whys of the way things (Materia and Fusion Materia in this case) function. If you DO read it, however, and notice a discrepancy in logic or functionality, let me know!

There may be a few Materia names readers won't recognize—those WILL turn up later if they haven't already. Also keep in mind that not quite all of these things have been experimented with in the story yet, but they will be once the appropriate Materia are available.

Also, any 'original percentages' of boosts and deficiencies I used were based on the Magic Materia data found on the FFVII wikia page (in other words, these are the main game originals). My fusion paper started playing with them. However, damage-related percentages are my own calculations in simplified form to account for several things going on with the Materia, and are actually at least partly 'educated guess-work'.

A note on damage calculations—for simplicity's sake, I picked a well-known and familiar energy (centigrade, more commonly known as Celsius) to base the calculations on, regardless of the actual energy something would be based on (Watts or Volts for Lightning, for example). In other words, a centigrade number for anything not Fire is just a fill-in for the approximate energy output of the actual energy source.

Materia Fusion Paper

 **Important Materia functionality notes (key points leading to Fusion):**

There are five types of Materia:

Magic (green): functional spells, all spells accessible by Mastery, causes boosts and deficiencies

Command (yellow): physical skill modification, only highest level skill available by Mastery, causes boosts and deficiencies

Support (blue): influences paired Materia, increases percentage of effect activation by Mastery, no boosts or deficiencies

Independent (purple): influences user, increases duration of effect by Mastery, no boosts or deficiencies (other than through purpose of Materia)

Summon (red): Summons beings to assist, causes boosts and deficiencies

Minerva requested through Aeris that Summon Materia not be returned to her, and by extension, that they not be risked in the Fusion Materia experiments—if they aren't tested, they can't be used as parts of the final results. Summons are actual sentient beings, not largely inanimate objects, and so will remain outside the scope of the Fusion Materia experiments unless something happens which causes Minerva or the Summons to request their inclusion. This would most likely only happen either in a dire circumstance or once the method of Fusion has been properly worked out. Unique Materia, such as the shards of Zirconaide, are also exempt.

The Red Huge Materia was a creation of the Lifestream directly regardless of developing in a Reactor, and is the only real instance of Summons being merged in some way—but it hasn't developed yet. As such, the remainder of this will address the other four types of Materia, but not Summon Materia, in or out of Fusion.

 _Basics of standard Materia (Minerva's creations):_

All Materia function based on a series of interlocking arrays which give it form, functionality, and limits, each series having a base array and no less than twenty sub-arrays. The base array determines what the Materia is for (Fire, Cure, Sense, Added Effect, etc.) while the sub-arrays determine all aspects of functionality, usage, duration, and limitations on usage. When a Materia has multiple levels of the same 'spell', several arrays which are applicable to all of them will be shared across the board. Any Materia with an effect which requires a target is able to target objects besides 'an enemy' or 'an ally', but targeting walls, the ground, plants, or so on, is more difficult than the basic function of targeting a person, monster, or animal in one's immediate surroundings.

Because Materia function based on a series of 'lines' and 'text' which are equivalent to scientific and mathematical equations and to computer code respectively, their operation rules are functional scientific and mathematical formulae. Modifying those formulae requires a knowledge of the language and coding of the 'computer codes' in order to make changes to them, thereby changing aspects of spell usage. In most cases, due to the complexity of the arrays, only so many modifications can be made to Materia spells and functions, and most such changes need to made repeatedly with each such usage.

All 'spells' in Magic and Command Materia which have damage or healing statistics operate based on a mathematical formula. Using Fire Materia as the example:

Fire = 60ºC + 20% caster's max energy level

Fire 2 = 60ºC + 30% caster's max energy level

Fire 3 = 60ºC + 40% caster's max energy level

Flare = 120ºC + 100% caster's max energy level*

*(this discrepancy will be explained in the Fusion Materia section)

While the energy variant used to determine output in place of centigrade would vary from Materia to Materia, it produces a similar quantity output. During casting, a failed result often is caused by using too little (it fizzles out) or too much (it explodes, or rebounds) of the caster's own energy. Spells with unusual uses, such as Demi, Regen or Sleepel, follow differing rules.

Over-time damage and healing spells also have statistics similar to standard spell damage, but modified by a different percentage (example is Poison Materia and Regen):

Bio = 10% target's max health level + permanent effect status

Bio 2 = 15% target's max health level + permanent effect status

Bio 3 = 20% target's max health level + permanent effect status

Regen = 15% target's max health level + duration 2 minutes

Gravity Materia (Demi spells) have a restriction generally preventing death from its use on a healthy target, as it does a percentage of damage based on its growth:

Demi = 1/4 target's health—pressure of gravity at target's location

Demi 2 = 1/2 target's health—pressure of gravity at target's location

Demi 3 = 7/8 target's health—pressure of gravity at target's location

Spells which do no damage, such as Sleepel or Berserk, have no damage ratio or calculation, but have durations (caster's death for most) and target resistance components. Their boosts and deficiency values have 3 possible options: 2%, 5%, and 10%, both ways, or a specific value which would be deducted from a whole, ranging from 1 to 8, mainly falling between 1 and 4. Generally, only the percentages of boosts and deficiencies will be discussed, as the specific values would change in accordance with them. Keep in mind that these values are all a number to explain the overall effect, not a literal 'accurate number' for any boosts or deficiencies.

As a general rule, spells must either remain 'attached' to their caster to siphon energy to remain active for an extended time (there are very few exceptions) or activate _**at**_ the target location. In most casts, there is no 'distance' for the spell to travel because the target location is where the spell forms, making them very difficult to dodge—magic resistance is useful to develop for this reason—but also very short-lived. A weak caster's maximum range will be approximately 20 feet from their location while maximum range for others will vary by casting ability. The maximum recorded distance is visual range of over 100 feet, but most fall between 20 and 40 feet.

Exceptionally powerful casters are able to modify their spells to 'travel' the distance between them and their target, this generally only being useful for showing off or as a distraction (Genesis does this sort of thing _a lot_ ). Rare spells are designed with a 'travel distance' by nature, and some spells influenced by the All Support Materia may gain a 'travel distance' by being used against multiple opponents; however, those are both non-standard spells and Materia combinations.

 **Fusion Materia formation and functionality notes:**

This is fusion of both physical form and energy, causing the basic free-hand arrays to have many similarities to the transmutation arrays needed for the creation of chimeras. The biggest difference in the Fusion Materia creation arrays is that they aren't classified as human transmutation arrays and don't include any elements related to living beings or souls.

Un-Mastered Materia have empty space which is difficult to assess due to instability and wild energy flows. On the assumption that it would be easier to fuse stable items rather than unstable ones, Mastered Materia would need to be used to create Fusion Materia with both variability and functionality. Trials using un-Mastered Materia resulted in the shattering of the result, but shattering the Materia also caused the energy in it to die without returning to the Lifestream. Mastered Materia which shattered, however, retained their energy in the resulting dust, meaning they were still 'viable' products.

 _Based on Shinra's fusion Materia:_

Shinra's fusion of Materia truly is primitive compared to what the arrays would allow, as shown in the Bolt Blade created by Shinra versus the one created using Shinra's method with slight alchemic modification versus the one created using pure alchemy and scientific method.

Shinra's: Bolt Blade 2, automatic and isolated function, no growth, original Materia fuse into the new result and can't be used for anything else

Modified Shinra method: Bolt Blade with growth from 1st to 2nd to 3rd, original Materia fuse into the new result and can't be used for anything else

Alchemy: Bolt of any level and Bolt Blade of any level (chosen by caster), no growth, original Materia fuse into the new result and can't be used for anything else

In normal circumstances, Bolt Blade via Shinra's method would be an Independent Materia which has a set action and acts automatically, making it non-interactive. In both other cases, the resulting Materia is interactive, not automatic (this negates both Support and Independent-type Materia classification). In the case of the modified Shinra method, the Bolt Blade function when interactive becomes a Command because this ends up being a singular item in which the weaker level will be replaced with a stronger level as it grows (Mug replaces Steal, for example). Modified Shinra method used correctly gains the ability for growth, and this form of Materia is a viable and reproducing form, making further experimentation worth pursuing.

With alchemy, the resulting form reverts to a modified Magic Materia, as Bolt Blade itself effectively becomes a spell of a level chosen by the caster as well as allowing standard casting of the Bolt spell. It is Mastered and stable by default, making it possible to further combine it with other Materia, but preventing it from growth and reproduction.

While primitive trials were successful in general idea, there was the question of regaining access to the point of the Elemental Blade combination, leading to further experimentation with an ability to pre-set an automatic level of Bolt Blade to use. This combination creates a Mastered Materia of swirling, mixed colors, green and blue, and operates on the basis that the first cast of Bolt Blade sets the automatic level for the next hour, while still allowing conscious choice of a different level during that time. It also allows no further growth.

This format of Fusion is specific to increasing the effectiveness of un-related Materia type combinations, generally meaning Magic, Command, and Support Materia in any and all useful formats. While that would normally exclude Independent Materia as those don't react with other Materia, Stealth, Long-Range Attack, and Item Boost had unusual results from being fused with other Materia.

Long-Range Attack could be fused with several Command Materia (Steal, Slash-All, Sense, Mime, Deathblow, and Aerial Attack), several Support Materia (Steal as Well, All, Counter, Health Absorb, and Magic Absorb), and the results of the three other types of Fusion already noted in the Bolt Blade examples above. The usual result of this tended to extend the normal range of effect of the Command, Support, or Fusion, but also meant the combination would bypass enemy defenses and resistances. In the case of some, such as Counter, it would allow the attack to strike an opponent behind the one whose blow activated Counter. In the case of others, like Mime, the user would gain the option of using Mime to copy a distant enemy's attack to use on current opponents. These would appear as swirling purple and blue or yellow or 'Fusion color'.

Item Boost paired with effect and healing-type Materia caused items used by the person to add effects to the item's usage. The combination is very delicate and not generally to be used 'for fun', because having a Bio-Boost would cause a Hi-Potion to also poison the target. Alternately, in the hands of someone who knew very well what they were doing with those combinations, it could be a very useful and subtle way of bypassing an enemy's defenses (in multiple ways) to damage them without them realizing it happened. These show as swirling purple and green.

Stealth combined with Magic, Command, or the above-noted Fusion Materia caused preemptive strikes to gain an automatic initial strike of whatever it was combined with. It also maintained the ability for the fused skills or magics to be used independently in battle after the initial attack, and granted a 'silence' factor to the skills or magics it was fused with. That is, when casting Fire, the spell would create a noise of flames as it activated, but fused with Stealth, the flame noise would be negated without any of the damage being lost. These would appear as swirling purple and green or yellow or 'Fusion color'.

In all of these cases, boosts and deficiencies are added together as is, but any costs in casting or use are reduced somewhat while they otherwise mainly do the same damage with the same functionality as normal. Normally, only one component, the Magic or Command one, would have any boosts or deficiencies, leaving them as they are with no change from the Magic or Command itself when slotted.

 _Materia level/ability boosting:_

In addition to fusion of varying shards, there was the question of strengthening existing Materia with the intent to level them up higher than their third, or fourth in some cases, level. It was possible through a system of fusing a Mastered Materia shard to another of the same Materia, though the maximum level of any one spell is nine. An initial trial earned Ice 4, Ice 5, and Ice 6 (also known as Freeze) from fusing the Ice 3 spell into the target Ice Materia, and showed that the resulting shard was not Mastered, making it capable of growth, Mastering, and reproduction.

Future trials revealed two methods of creating further levels, up to 9, all requiring Mastered Materia:

Multi-stage fusion method:

1) Target Materia (spell levels 1-3) + secondary Materia spell level 3 = Materia spells 4, 5, and 6 (4-6)

2) Target Materia (spell levels 4-6) + secondary Materia spell level 3 = Materia spells 7, 8, and 9 (7-9)

3) Materia 1-3 + Materia 4-6 + Materia 7-9 = Mega spell Materia (levels 1-9)

Simplified Fusion Method:

Spell Materia 1-3 + secondary Materia spell level 3 + third Materia spell level 3 = Mega spell Materia (levels 1-9)

Both methods allow all levels of a spell from 1 to 9 to appear on the same Materia shard, allowing a caster to boost the one shard to its maximum potential and produce a viable baby at Mastering. Boosted Materia in this vein are, in fact, the replacement for basic spells. Like with variants of Shinra's Fusion method, any Materia used in this form of Fusion merged into the new product and could not be reused. It was also possible to fuse only the 1-3 and 4-6 spell level Materia to create a Materia with spells 1-6 on it. An attempt at creating a 4-9 spell level Materia failed, however.

This clearly indicates that Minerva herself had developed spells up to a ninth level of power and ability, and the basic system is, in fact, fully developed while she chose to only allow the tangible creation of certain levels of Materia. Contain, with its much-boosted spells, held the key to that fact from the start. The full list of statistics for such spells:

Fire/Ice/Bolt/Quake/Cure/etc. = 60ºC + 20% caster's max energy level

Fire 2/Ice 2/Bolt 2/Quake 2/Cure 2/etc. = 60ºC + 30% caster's max energy level

Fire 3/Ice 3/Bolt 3/Quake 3/Cure 3/etc. = 60ºC + 40% caster's max energy level

Fire 4/Ice 4/Bolt 4/Quake 4/Cure 4/etc. = 90ºC + 50% caster's max energy level

Fire 5/Ice 5/Bolt 5/Quake 5/Cure 5/etc. = 90ºC + 60% caster's max energy level

Fire 6/Ice 6 (Freeze)/Bolt 6/Quake 6/Cure 6/etc. = 90ºC + 70% caster's max energy level

Fire 7/Ice 7/Bolt 7/Quake 7 (Break)/Cure 7/etc. = 120ºC + 80% caster's max energy level

Fire 8/Ice 8/Bolt 8 (Tornado)/Quake 8/Cure 8/etc. = 120ºC + 90% caster's max energy level

Fire 9 (Flare)/Ice 9/Bolt 9/Quake 9/Cure 9 (healing ratio of Full Cure)/etc. = 120ºC + 100% caster's max energy level

The effect is similar with over-time damage spells:

Bio = 10% target's max health level + permanent effect status

Bio 2 = 15% target's max health level + permanent effect status

Bio 3 = 20% target's max health level + permanent effect status

Bio 4 = 25% target's max health level + permanent effect status

Bio 5 = 30% target's max health level + permanent effect status

Bio 6 = 35% target's max health level + permanent effect status

Bio 7 = 40% target's max health level + permanent effect status

Bio 8 = 45% target's max health level + permanent effect status

Bio 9 = 50% target's max health level + permanent effect status

Regen = 15% target's max health level + duration 2 minutes

Regen 2 = 30% target's max health level + duration 2 minutes

Regen 3 = 45% target's max health level + duration 2 minutes

The effects of Gravity Materia boosted this way were singularly unique:

Demi = 1/4 target's health—pressure of gravity at target's location

Demi 2 = 1/2 target's health—pressure of gravity at target's location

Demi 3 = 7/8 target's health—pressure of gravity at target's location

Demi 4 = 1/4 target's health—produces 'drag' on surroundings (slows movement speed)

Demi 5 = 1/2 target's health—produces 'drag' on surroundings (slows movement speed)

Demi 6 = 7/8 target's health—produces 'drag' on surroundings (slows movement speed)

Demi 7 = 1/4 target's health—forces all enemies in range into its core damage zone/unavoidable*

Demi 8 = 1/2 target's health—forces all enemies in range into its core damage zone/unavoidable*

Demi 9 = 7/8 target's health—forces all enemies in range into its core damage zone/unavoidable*

*(This functionality originated from the effect of Gravity Materia in FFVII: Before Crisis.)

Comet, with only two levels, boosts only to Comet 6, which produces damage of about 150ºC plus 100% of maximum energy at its highest level. Most of the Materia falling in this category with all levels on the same shard have a scaled cost, boost, and deficiency number set which moderates them to no higher than 10% when Mastered and slotted. That means it becomes more practical to have the single shard with all levels of the spells than it is to have an independent shard for each 1-3 (for basic elements: 2%), 4-6 (for basic elements: 5%), and 7-9 (for basic elements: 10%).

Effect-type Materia produce three general results from being fused: a boost in duration, a boost in 'bypass' ability, or a combination of the two.

Materia receiving a boost in duration:

Barrier

Mirage

Fly

Float

Materia bypassing immunity defenses or resisting removal from an ally:

Destruct

Mystify

Transform

Exit

Cleanse

Materia which do both of the above depending on the spell:

Time

Seal

Rather than any of the above, the Heal Materia increases effectiveness of spells or range of status ailments they cure.

Typically, these effects would leave all other statistics (costs, boosts, deficiencies, etc.) as they are, and cannot be boosted beyond two shards fused together. Like the multi-level spell Materia, these also have the benefit of producing a viable Materia able to grow to Mastery and reproduce. For all such shards, the amount of energy needed for Mastering is much increased, making them largely impractical for quick Mastering to be broken down and returned to the Planet.

Contain, Ultima, Shield, Full Cure, and Revive have no higher spells (cannot be combined with others of their kind). Contain is already boosted levels of the spells which can't be made stronger without violating Minerva's rules, and the only difference between Cure 9 and Full Cure is how Full Cure also casts Esuna, placing it in the same category as Contain. Ultima, Shield, and Revive are simply maximum boosted spells with no current lower levels—they fall under the category of level 9 spells, with Life being a level 5 spell equivalent and Life 2 being a level 9 spell equivalent.

Under this category of Fusion, the Materia costs, boosts, and deficiencies normalize to the requirements of the most powerful spell in the list, and the stats don't change as the Materia grows and more spells become available. A Materia with all nine levels on it from the start can therefore only be used by someone with large magical and physical reserves, making it viable and necessary to keep other variants of the Materia handy (1-3, 1-6, 4-6, 7-9).

Similar principles apply to Command Materia, with the noted exceptions of Enemy Skill and Steal. Independent and Support Materia could not be combined with one another in this way, being that they are all singular skills and behave much the way a level 9 equivalent spell does in attempts at fusing them. That is, the attempted fusion would either shut down mid-fusion (this would result in a twisted mass of useless energized rock) or destroy the Materia being fused, creating more Materia dust (viable version).

As a side note: the 'useless energized rock' could be returned to the Planet as Lifestream energy, but had no use besides that.

On the other hand, Command Materia could also be split to form two separate Materia, one solely for each Command available on the Materia if more than one existed. One prime example would be Steal, with both Steal and Mug. For someone using s/Stealth and wanting to escape undetected, they may prefer simply to Steal from an opponent rather than damage them at the same time, but by Steal's natural growth, reaching its second level replaces Steal with Mug, leaving no choice but to damage. By separating Steal and Mug into two different Command Materia, both still capable of growth, Steal would remain as is and still grow two levels before Mastering and producing a baby, while Mug would need to grow one level before becoming accessible:

Steal (original version): Steal, Mug, Mastery

Steal (modified solo): Steal, (blank), Mastery

Mug (modified solo): (blank), Mug, Mastery

 _Alchemy Fusion of assorted Materia for use and accessibility:_

In theory, by the empty space left in Mastered Materia, many shards should be able to be fused into one to be used as is out of one shard. With Summon Materia currently excluded, that would leave Magic, Command, Support, and Independent Materia with the potential for merging. Some Materia have too many of their own data requirements to merge with many others, or to merge at all. Notably, Enemy Skill, Shapeshift, and Cleanse are excluded completely from merging at any time.

By what has been discussed to this point, one key note is that Fusion of this type involves shards with some sort of commonality, meaning it can be assumed that the more commonalities there are between shards, the more of them are able to be merged. In the case of Magic and Command Materia, merging all of each type with the rest of its type will occur with two possible variants. Given the levels of skills introduced by merging two/three of one shard together (eg. Fire up to 9 or Cure up to 9), a fused Materia could be made with either the original base set (the 1-3 basics) Mastered or the properly fused set (1-9) Mastered.

In the latter case, there would be next to no space remaining in the 'Mega-Master Magic/Command Materia', causing the fusion to be very delicate and prone to failure if not done _just so_. The spell Full Cure will replace Cure 9. With Command Materia, by using separated skills (eg. Steal and Mug), the two are able to remain as independent skills and the user will be able to choose either of them. Most trial cases were done using easy-to-obtain and prolific Materia, such as the base elements, because those allowed perfection of the technique on something expendable before trying it with much rarer Materia.

One fear of merging many shards into one was that the boosts and deficiencies would sky-rocket exponentially. Instead, they were being reduced by around half of the original combined total of wearing each independently.

Five elements (basic 1-3) example:

As individual shards: Fire (2%) + Ice (2%) + Lightning (2%) + Earth (2%) + Gravity (5%) = 13%

In one shard: Fire (1%), Ice (1%), Lightning (1%), Earth (1%), Gravity (2%) = 6%

Mega-elements (1-9) example:

As individual shards: Fire (10%) + Ice (10%) + Lightning (10%) + Earth (10%) + Gravity (10%) = 50%

In one shard: Fire (4%), Ice (4%), Lightning (4%), Earth (4%), Gravity (5%) = 21%

Not only did the original Mastered Materia remain intact in addition to producing a Master or Mega-Master Materia^, but further experiments with combinations showed the percentages decreasing until they began running in reverse—until all Magic/Command Materia shards it was possible to merge hit 0 and stayed there. There were neither increases nor decreases in any of a person's natural abilities with a Master Magic or Command Materia* (or the Mega versions of those) when slotted.

*(It should be noted that, while Summon Materia are not discussed here, Shinra's fusion method (and associated forms) does not apply to them, compounding of them is impossible (there won't be any Shiva 3's or 9's!), and fusion of the various Summons functions on the same principles as Magic and Command Materia. This includes associated boosts and deficiencies, both independently and as 'Master Summon' Materia. It should be noted that 4 extremely powerful Summons produce a deficiency of 10% in one regard while creating a boost of 15% or 20% in the other, while other status boosts average out to 4 or 8. Any "additional" (created by author) Summons will have stats no higher than the average 10% and 2.)

Further testing on that peculiarity revealed that the more Materia were merged into one, the 'closer' they became to Minerva (or to balance, more accurately), causing arrays to begin imprinting in them which reduced or removed any strain on the caster. Any 'weight' which would generally come from using too many Materia at once was negated by this effect, allowing virtually anyone to cast anything from such a Master Materia, energy provided—the spells all still have casting costs and all other functions as normal. This would indicate a state of balance, a state both more required and more achievable the more of the same type of Materia are fused.

Support Materia could not all be fused into one, but some could be fused in twos, threes, or fours, if the correct ones were merged. All and Steal as Well easily merged with one another and with any or all other shards, both as the two separately (or independently) and as the two fused. Those could also be merged with anything except Master and Mega-Master Materia, Enemy Skill, Shapeshift, and Cleanse. Outside those, some pairs seemed to be established:

Magic Turbo + Quadra Magic

Counter + Added Cut

Elemental + Added Effect

Health Absorb + Magic Absorb

When merged, they would create a reduction in the percentage boosts and deficiencies required to function, and could be combined with the appropriate other Materia, both in slots or in further fusions. For example, a fusion of Elemental, All, and Steal as Well could be fused into a Five Elements Materia, then slotted paired with Ultima, and Ultima would gain the effects of Elemental, All, and Steal as Well just as much as Fire, Ice, Lightning, Earth, and Gravity would. Given the variability of being able to combine nearly anything in any combination or quantity alchemic fusion allows, many multiples of such combinations based on individual wants and needs would be possible. Many of these would resemble swirling blue with whatever other Materia color they had been fused with (green, yellow, or a combination).

However, there are limits to how many Fusion Materia can be fused before the result will revert to Materia dust or a useless energized rock. Generally, two created Fusions can be fused together or fused with other non-Fusion Materia, but the result of trying to fuse it again after that or to fuse it with more than one other Fusion Materia is the above-noted, assuming it doesn't rebound and explode. Dust of this sort, while viable for returning energy to the Planet, is often too 'confused' to be applied elsewhere for other purposes, though it can also function as a back-up power supply in some types of Mako generators.

In this form of fusion, however, Independent Materia have only two possible combinations, one of which creates a mixed Command and Independent Materia which is colored in swirls of both yellow and purple. The above-noted combination is Chocobo Lure, Enemy Lure, and Enemy Away, which only retain their functions after merging by then having one of the three functions chosen, much the way a Command would be. The only other possible option for fusion of Independent Materia with any other Independent Materia is the fusion of the 'Plus' Materia, Speed Plus, Magic Plus, Health Plus, Luck Plus, Guard Plus, and Strength Plus.

The reason for this is that every one of these Materia have so many sub-arrays that their ability to be merged with one another is all but negated, and their ability to merge with other types of Materia with much lower requirements is limited. The Lures and Away are similar in enough of their sub-array requirements to reduce the collective data they require to function, and similarly, all of the 'Plus' Materia are nearly identical with only minor differences, allowing them to share most of their sub-arrays. Doing so negates them from fusing with other things. In the case of the 'Pluses', however, they have the variability of being able to be merged in different combinations—someone needing extra Luck, Strength, and Guard could have a Materia with only those three fused in it.

All of the Fusions falling into this last category are Mastered and cannot earn growth to reproduce, so must be created by fusing other shards. The one benefit to using this method is that, once perfected so original Materia used in the Fusion aren't being destroyed, the original set remains undamaged. The originals used in the Fusion also imprint arrays indicating they've already been used so can't be used again, an effect which happens because a portion of their energy (generally, the excess between its highest level ability and its Mastered state) was taken with the alchemic array in order to form the body of the new Materia shard. This creates a requirement for a cycle and repeated new input of new Materia to create new Fusions or repeats of old ones.

End Paper

 **Notes:**

^'Master Materia' obtained from Huge Materia have boosts and deficiencies of 0% and give no other stats (go ahead and check the wikia!), so this was a fact needing explanation.


	67. 62-Aftermath

Aftermath

By morning, the group of travelers hadn't heard from anyone in Midgar yet, though Aeris, Kamil, and Roy had all said they had felt a large number of deaths the day before, so they decided not to rush to find out what was wrong there. It was likely the phones were already overworked with whatever had happened, and it would make rescue or assistance harder in the city if people who were safe and outside it were calling in. They'd wait until someone in Midgar got in touch with them, as there were plenty of people who would be able to once they had the time and ability to do so.

Instead, they borrowed Chocobos from a small farmer on the outskirts of Banora and use them to cross to the Materia Mine on the northern tip of the island, which required crossing some strands of underwater dunes barely visible at the water's surface. (1) On the way, they passed a burnt out, ruined, crater-filled hole which Genesis said quietly to Eden, Kamil, and Roy was where they, all the Amestrians except Izumi, had supposedly originated from.

At the Materia Mine, they found the same trend of a fairly small, empty cave, as they had found at every other one, though the one they were at glowed with a faintly blue light and they found a Support called Quadra Magic. Genesis was ecstatic by the find, so Eden let him take it.

On the Chocobos, they were able to return to Banora by nightfall, where they rested for the night, then took to the airship again to head to their next northern stop—Goblin Island. The largest island in the small chain almost directly north of Banora and past the Chocobo Farm on the continent was properly named Goblin Island, though all the islands in the area were inhabited by them. Normally, Goblins were fairly easy to deal with, and they'd be able to get the Enemy Skill Goblin Punch from them, hence the reason they stopped there. However, the Goblins were somehow able to sneak up on them, even the Turks, and get surprise attacks, leading them all to wonder how.

Finally, Cissnei commented that it was like they had a Stealth Materia (2), causing Genesis to smirk and tell her she was a genius. Moments later, he had sprouted his gray wing and taken to the air, vanishing over the plains and trees—and returned after about half an hour with a purple orb glowing in his hand. When he landed, he held it out triumphantly as he declared, "One Stealth Materia requisitioned from the Goblin King himself! I made sure to take the baby, not the Mastered one, too." He then tossed it to Eden as everyone stared at him in stunned amazement.

They returned to the airship soon after and headed further north from there, to what everyone could see was Round Island. They reached it around dawn the morning after leaving Goblin Island, not because the flight took any amount of time normally (it only took about four hours), but because the Highwind had to fight high winds and heavy storm conditions the whole time. Round Island—was a dormant volcano. It was obvious by its circular form with the raised ridge all the way around it.

The crater had filled with dense underbrush and the ridge was far too narrow for the Highwind to land, so they once again had to resort to asking a Summon for help. Oddly enough, Eden thought of Leviathan, who was long and narrow, and would likely appreciate exploring the ocean after they finished at the island. Since Leviathan agreed, they used him to travel down the steep cliff to the forest's edge. Finding the cave they were looking for, or a random Materia shard laying around, was like finding a needle in a haystack, so Eden went back to Leviathan to tell him to explore for a few hours and return there when he was bored.

By the time they found the cave to the northeast side of the island, it was nearly dark and Leviathan had returned at least two hours before. What they had found in that faintly red glowing Materia Mine, however, had been a Summon known as Knights of the Round—arguably the single most powerful Summon Minerva had created besides the Weapon Materia. After they had returned to the airship, Aeris informed them that Knights of the Round had been formed within a few generations of the star-travelers' arrival by the thirteen Knights who had forced Jenova's monsters into retreat in their age. Minerva produced it only sparingly, however.

It was then, while they were on their way back to Fort Condor to search for the Keystone for the Ancient Temple, that the airship got a call from Midgar.

When the group gathered to take the call—at the President's request, though Nanaki and Deneh only sat outside the door to wait for them, and Aeris was being disguised as a blond again—they could see that the airship was equipped with a video conference call screen. On it were the President, Tseng, Lazard, and Winry, all dressed formally and in a room none of them recognized, though Cissnei said softly, "It looks like the rooms on floor thirteen, where they have general rooms for business meetings." Tseng, Lazard, and Winry all looked tired.

"Is that everyone now?" the President asked as he looked over at Tseng.

"It seems to be," the Wutain agreed.

"Can we get on with whatever you called us about, Father?" Rufus asked irritably.

"You watch your mouth," the President glared at him. "But yes, we should get on with it, given how overloaded with work we are right now. Well, a few days ago, Midgar was assaulted by monsters which were—oddly durable. Apparently, Hojo had been behind the plot in order to find an excuse to kidnap experimental subjects he hadn't been given permission to take. The city is in shambles and we've lost another fifteen percent of our population (3), along with many employees from the executive level down. We're already running into the tens of billions of gil in clean-up and repairs, and I can safely say that the monsters did much more damage to the city than the Wutain Invaders, even though they killed fewer people. No one is unaccounted for—they're either notably registered as dead or are alive and recovering."

The large man rose and said, "Now, since I still have stacks of paperwork to do, I'll leave these three to give you further details. Oh, and because of the mess here, you'll be stopping in Junon before you start the last leg of your journey, not returning here as I had originally intended." He then turned and left the room, Lazard glaring at him as he left, Winry just sighing tiredly, and Tseng closing his eyes for a moment.

"So...A monster attack?" Rufus asked once there had been a notable sound of a door closing.

"Let's just say Hojo managed to drop easily as many monsters on us as you'd typically find in the Northern Crater over several days all at once," Lazard replied acidly. Everyone's eyes widened. "Those monsters followed the traits noted in the Turk report of the very hard-to-kill monster, meaning each and every one of them had to be killed several times at the very least before it would die. As it turned out, we had to resort to a complete power outage to kill them quickly and make them stay dead—Winry had to go to Reactor Zero to shut it down as well."

Eden's eyes went to Winry, and she gave a nod as she said, "They were being powered by the Mako energy output of the Reactors—even by the persistent smog here. They leeched it out of everything. Unfortunately, when the power went out and they lost their supply, they went into panic frenzies. With the kinds of monsters we were dealing with—let's just say I can safely say I never want to meet an Ifrit again, _any_ Ifrit."

"What happened?" Kamil asked in alarm.

"One was in Reactor Zero, and when he realized I was cutting his power supply—he killed me," Winry replied, holding her hand to her side with a small, pained face. "I've never been so thankful for Eden's study habits before then." She paused and met Genesis' gaze as she added, "And thank you so much for Phoenix. He saved my life in a way Revive could never have done."

The man's terse gaze became a small smile as he gave her a nod and replied, "I'm glad to know I was able to protect you from so far away."

She nodded, and Tseng said, "But what we need to report on is more complicated than that. This became a bigger mess than a monster attack, and we lost Palmer, Heidegger, and Hojo. We also lost several of the SOLDIERs—" His gaze moved to Genesis and Kunzel. "—including Sebastian and Luxiere—" Both SOLDIERs drew in sharp breaths as their gazes became pained. "—and two of the Turks, Alvis and Maur." The Wutain's gaze was on Freyra, Cissnei, Kamil, and Eden as he said that part. All four pairs of eyes widened as Cissnei's hand covered her mouth and Freyra's lips pressed into a fine line.

Tseng's gaze returned to Genesis. "We'll forward you a list of SOLDIERs in your unit who died during the attack. It gets worse, and the Science Department is running on a skeleton crew right now—the only ones who survived are those working under Doctors Blythe and Kedran. Several other departments are in a similar state. Many Academy students are also dead, but they fared better over-all, and any of your friends there are unharmed. Doctor Blythe is now in charge of the Science Department."

"Were there any other deaths of note, besides the basic death toll the President gave us?" Roy asked suddenly.

With a sigh, Tseng gave his head a shake. "Not in particular. That isn't to say more deaths couldn't have happened, but Mrs. Curtis managed to establish a safe zone in Wall Market for us until Felicia could get there to provide backup, which helped significantly below the Plate. I suppose the one benefit to the situation is that the President has started hiring all comers to take positions in Shinra as long as a cursory check shows no criminal record—that means a lot more people from the Slums are now employed. We had our own problems with Behemoths and Makonoids up here. The hospitals nearly all crashed and we lost about half our medical staff, so Turks and SOLDIERs reasonably proficient with restorative Materia have been sent out to help heal the injured."

"Could we back up and address the issues with Palmer's, Heidegger's, and Hojo's deaths?" Rufus cut in, frowning deeply in confusion. "I realize Hojo may have been—killed by the Turks to halt the attack, but—"

"He wasn't," Lazard said, then sighed and pushed his glasses up. "Well, he _was_ killed by Vant, but not 'to stop the attacks'. He threw a fit in the President's office when the Reactors shut down, and it turned out he'd made a clone of Sephiroth using the same technique he'd used on the monsters. Sephiroth now has a wing, the Science Department now has a four-month-old baby version of Sephiroth, and with Hollander and Hojo both dead, no one's quite sure what to make of the remains of the Jenova Project. The President also watched Vant become Chaos to defeat Hojo, who had transformed into a Jenova hybrid, and was rather—put out by Hojo trying to kill _him_ as well as everyone else."

"The President knows about Chaos?" Eden blinked, gaze turning dazed as he realized just how screwed they could be with just that alone.

"Chaos, who chose to protect him," Tseng answered that time. "I think the Turks are some of the few people he still trusts, and has no intention of doing anything about Chaos' presence. 'The monster' protected him from Hojo, so that was good enough at that time. He also realized that if Vant was Chaos—or Vincent Valentine—then Lunaria was most likely Lucrecia Crescent, which also made Sephiroth, and his clone by default, her children genetically, so she's unofficially been given responsibility for them. With the inclusion of Anthony, who he suspects may be Weiss after seeing him interact with Sora and Shelke, I think he firmly believes the Turks are trying to gather the strongest and sanest people we can find to his side. He's not planning to interfere with that right now."

"That's one good thing," Rufus put in, giving Eden's shin a kick under the table to shut him up. "How did Hollander die if he had no part in Hojo's plot?"

"Hojo set up the monsters to slaughter everyone they could reach in the Science Department, which ended up being about eighty percent of it. Hollander, who had apparently been infused with Jenova's cells as well, had been one of those," Lazard replied. "All of the Turks and SOLDIERs now report to either Doctor Blythe or Doctor Kedran, along with anyone else they've requested to have moved to their care."

"So how did Palmer and Heidegger end up dead? Not from trying to protect people, surely?" the President's son asked derisively.

"No," Tseng agreed. "Palmer was mauled by the monsters and beyond help without medical care—and it was going to take far too long to get that care. The number of people I had to kill because they were beyond saving, during and after the attack—let's just say I'd rather not do it again any time soon. Heidegger...tried to kill the President, Sora, and me."

"...Excuse me?" Rufus and Genesis both asked as the others traded shocked looks.

Rubbing his eyes, the Wutain Turk answered, "Apparently, he was so upset about the agreement the President made with Emperor Godo that he took to excessive drinking—not really unusual for him—and mind-altering drug use—not normal for him. The drug he was using appears to be Mako-enhanced morphine, something the people in the Slums call 'blue sparks'. Morphine is a painkiller, but it's also strongly hallucinogenic, and when combined with Mako _and_ alcohol, it warped his mind enough to—snap. Who knows if he would have gone back to normal after the blue sparks had worn off, but it didn't change the immediate reality of the fact that he blew a hole in Sora's back and nearly did the same to the President's head."

"And...who has taken over for all these people who have died?" Rufus asked, gaze on Tseng still.

"Right now, I'm sort of filling the role for both the Space Department and Urban Development," Winry said, making the others stare at her with wide eyes. "Reeve should be back tomorrow morning, then I'll temporarily keep things running in the Space Department until someone named Cid Highwind gets back to take over?"

"Cid's our pilot," Genesis blinked in surprise.

"Apparently, he's also the best option for both the aeronautics and space engineering the department requires," the blond fifteen-year-old said. "So, I'm taking over the department temporarily because I'm as skilled as I am, just to keep things on track and allocate funding and things."

"Rather than that, Tseng, you should get some people out to Rocket Town to pick up Shera Labradia," Rufus said. "She's Cid's assistant and should be about as capable as him—she's also readily available to take over as his second and is better suited to the position than Winry, who while highly capable, knows very little about space technology. Also, I rather think Cid won't agree if you don't already have Shera on board, and you'll end up needing her to get his agreement for you."

"...I see," Tseng sighed. "I'll make arrangements for someone to go see her, then. Thank you for the heads-up, since that will definitely make things easier."

Rufus nodded, then asked, "So, who's filled the other executive roles needing a person to fill?"

"I've taken Heidegger's place—and started training with the Turks to use some weapons reasonably well," Lazard offered. "They ended up getting Sephiroth to temporarily take my former role while they try to find someone suitable for it. After all, he told us bluntly that he's not going to keep it because he already has to do enough paperwork—he'd never get out onto the field if he had to become the Director. The only problem is...None of us have had any time to stop and mourn, or even slow down."

"What about the monster attacks we'd been dealing with before the attack on Midgar?" Genesis asked suddenly, voice oddly low.

"Those have mostly stopped since then," Lazard told him. "Thank Bahamut for small mercies. Once the President releases us from this workload, all of us are taking a holiday. Zack seems to be the only one unaffected, and after this attack, he came to me and volunteered to take over for a week while everyone else just—crashed. In exchange, he said he gets to go with you lot to the Northern Crater. Hopefully, this is the last day we need to work this intensively."

"Even if it's not, I'm going to call my father and demand he let all of you rest and mourn, because anyone with eyes can tell all of you, Tseng especially, are about to collapse in exhaustion," Rufus replied, his gaze moving across the three of them. "How many did Gaia's Refuge lose?"

"About five percent of their people," Tseng answered with a ghost of a smile which came out more like a grimace. "Them having held down the fort in the Slums with so few deaths was nothing short of a miracle, given what they were dealing with."

"What _were_ they dealing with?" Aeris asked softly, gaze pained.

"Your mother is fine, thanks to Mrs. Curtis," the Wutain man told her, knowing what that look meant from her. "But while the Upper Plate had two Behemoths in their arsenal, the Slums had several dozen Abyss Worms and Death Claws. Each." Everyone's eyes widened in horror. "The Shinra building had to deal with—I think it ended up being ten Makonoids, an Ifrit, and Sephiroth's clone. There were other kinds of monsters ranging from Destroyers to Funny Faces to Guard Hounds to Epiolnises to Sahagins—and more difficult to handle Evil Eyes and Evilgoyles. We'll never be able to get anything like a complete or accurate accounting of those, but if Hojo's records are to be believed, he created approximately twenty-five hundred in total, all inclusive."

That caused several sharp intakes of breath and shocked gasps. Then Rufus gave a growl and glower and said, "Excuse me while I call my father and tell him you _are_ taking a break. All of the combat personnel. I'd say Winry as well, but until Reeve gets back, there's no one else to take the role, even for a day. When Reeve gets back, he can take over for a few days while you also rest, Winry." Rufus then rose and left the room.

With a sigh, Genesis also rose, but Lazard said, "Genesis, please give Sephiroth a call. I think he'd appreciate that." Genesis gave a wave of agreement as he left the room, and Roy and Kunzel quickly followed him out. Lazard looked at Tseng and asked, "Shall I take over the allocation for awhile?"

"Please," the younger man agreed. "But don't over-do it. You're still recovering from your session with Reno earlier."

"I'll live," Lazard responded. "Come, Miss Rockbell. We took you away from something which looked important for this meeting, so I'll escort you back."

"Thanks..." Winry agreed, then paused to look at Eden's sad gaze. "Hey, Ed—you should call Al later. And when you have time, there's something I want to ask you about too, but that's not a rush. I think Al is still—shell-shocked, and it would help him to have you talk with him."

"I'll call him later, then," Eden agreed quietly, so she nodded and left with Lazard.

"I'm going to go talk with Cid and our two cats," Aeris said as Winry and Lazard were leaving. She also walked out, but didn't go far, as she just moved over to where she could reach both Deneh and Nanaki and wrapped an arm around both, just drawing comfort from them.

Back in the room, it was Eden, Freyra, Kamil, and Cissnei who were left, and it was Cissnei who asked softly, "How did Maur and Alvis die?"

"Honorably," Tseng answered, then explained to them what had happened to the two men. Kamil shook his head sadly, his reaction no stronger due to having barely known them, and Eden just pressed his fingers to his eyes with a similar expression. He'd known Alvis slightly better than he'd know Maur, but in the end, he'd known them even less than Kamil had. It was Freyra and Cissnei who were the most deeply affected by their deaths, Cissnei especially, and she turned to the first person she could reach to cry on their shoulder—which ended up being Eden. He just held her and let her cry, and Freyra left the room while wiping tears away.

"Thank you for telling us," Kamil said to Tseng, who gave a small nod, his eyes moist with unshed tears. "We'll do our mourning here. Are you sure you don't want to switch a few of us off, though?"

"I can't do that," Tseng answered. "We'll have to handle things here. If Rufus manages to come through for us, we'll be okay, but that's assuming the President is willing to listen to him. Right now, we have no guarantee of that. I only really have Vant fit to work, just like Lazard really only has Zack, and to some degree, Sephiroth. Everyone else needs a rest. We were already worn out and running on fumes."

Kamil sighed. "Fine. Good luck, then. We'll keep on our planned path here." Tseng nodded and ended the video call, and the Ishbalan man rose to leave the room, pausing to look back at Eden and Cissnei as he went. It was probably best to give them time, and as Libby climbed onto the table, he realized they wouldn't actually be alone if he left, so he stepped out of the room. He was forced to stop in the hall, though, as Aeris and two large cats had made a rather large obstacle of themselves just beside the door to the room.

"All right, Flower Girl?" he asked her gently.

"Yeah," she murmured, not shaking anymore, but still tightly holding onto both lions. "I just...really hope Rufus comes through for them, before we see any more deaths..."

"Who else do you think would die _after_ the attack?" he asked in confusion.

"...All of them are about to break...Will break if this keeps up," she said quietly. "I guess I don't know the others enough to know if they're as close as I think, but Tseng...It isn't just exhaustion. He joked about having a 'Trial by Fire' while I was there, but I don't actually think it's a joke or that it's funny. I don't think any one human could take this much and handle it well. I just...I really hope the President lets them rest now, or we may lose him, maybe others, too. I just hope Rufus can do that..."

Kamil rested a hand on her shoulder and said, "If anyone can do it, it'll be that stubborn, spoiled brat. And there isn't a damned thing we can do about it, anyway, so let's focus on something else—like going to see Cid." He lifted his hand to offer it to her as a hand up, instead.

She looked up at him slowly, then gave a small nod and reached up to take the hand so he could pull her up gently. Deneh and Nanaki flanked them as the two made their way to the bridge. On the way, they saw Freyra and Kunzel both disappear into his room, arms around each other as they wept, but everyone else seemed to have made themselves scarce.

 **Notes:**

(1) This bit of a land bridge of sand dunes isn't there in 0007 when the main game takes place, because the waves have been systematically washing them away, and as it is, they were only barely able to use them at this point. Depending on the ocean terrain, dunes can form as well as wash away, and in many areas (assuming they aren't being disturbed by man-made machines), they run in cycles across segments of the ocean. In areas with 'anchor points' for the sand to form dunes, those dunes can and do reach the surface and people can walk on them. These dunes would run on a 15-20 year cycle, and are currently nearing the end of one before they can start their formation again.

(2) Stealth is the name I gave Pre-Emptive, and it doesn't just allow you to surprise your enemy, it literally lets you walk around (carefully, though!) without being seen. This was a more realistic functionality to me than how battle functions in the game, which is also part of the reason for the name change. It differs from the Invis spell in two ways—it doesn't have an actual time limit, and you can't be careless and just run across open ground without being seen. Invis will only last about 2 minutes, but it WILL keep you from being seen during that time, regardless of how you move or where you go. That's why the Wutains were using Invis, not Stealth, during the Wutain Invasion.

Since the Materia Fusion paper is now out, I'm going to add that Stealth fused with Magic, Command, or certain forms of Fusion Materia creates the general effect of what the "Sneak Attack" Materia I removed from the Materia list would do, but with some modification. In this case, the effect is automatic and permanent (at 100%), and it causes a silencing effect so the spells make no noise. Sneak Attack was a Materia I assessed as rather unrealistic in real time because people can do that entirely on their own—they CAN'T do what the Stealth Fusion allows on their own, however.

(3) To clear up this percentage...Midgar is a metropolis, much like on our world, meaning it has a general population between 30-40 MILLION people. It's also the only one on Gaia, and comprises about half (or more) of the world's total population. Back in Catalyst Array, during the Wutain Invasion, it had been closer to 40 million, but they lost 30% of that 40 million, putting them down to 30 million or less. This estimate of 15% population loss is being subtracted from 30 million-ish, not 40 million-ish, meaning they're down to around 25 million people in a metropolis meant to hold many more than that.

Their saving graces? First, with Izumi in Wall Market, where the majority of the population in the Slums during the day is, someone could create an effective defense; second, there were many extra people in the Shinra building to clean things up there; and third, they had effective organization of a fairly large portion of the Infantry thanks to Liam. The major death toll actually came from within the Shinra building until distribution of defenses was allocated and from Kariya's Behemoth—even though Zack's Behemoth didn't get to kill many civilians, Kariya's had barreled through several buildings...How many people do you think it would have killed in the process, when the Upper Plate is obviously arranged with most of the shops near the core pillar—the same zone the Behemoth plowed through? In other words, compared to the 40% who died in Fates of Worlds, the major deciding factors in Salvation's Hands were Izumi and Liam Roach, with extra support from Amal, the couple extra Turks available, and the rest of the scattered city defenders—about half of SOLDIER, Gaia's Refuge, and assorted random criminals and mercenaries, all of those last two unevenly spread and with fewer numbers than either Gaia's Refuge or the available SOLDIERs.


	68. 63-Materia Temple

Materia Temple

That evening, while the group of travelers rested at the Inn in Fort Condor, Eden laid back on his bed to call Al. He hadn't since before the meeting with Minerva, so he was overdue a discussion with his brother, anyway. Genesis, Roy, and Rufus were in the room as well (along with Dark Nation, Stray Hope, and Libby), but Rufus was definitely sleeping, and he didn't particularly care about the others hearing his side of his discussion with the younger boy in Midgar. Genesis had called Sephiroth while they had been on the airship, and after he had left Cissnei once she had calmed down, she had called Reno to talk. He didn't know who else had called who in the city, but he could guess several people had gotten calls from the travelers. Everyone else in their party was in other rooms, roughly four to a room.

When it was answered, Al's almost deadened voice asked, "What do you want, Ed?"

"We just heard about the attack on Midgar today. How are you holding up?" the blond Turk asked in a low voice.

Silence followed for a few moments before Al sighed and replied, "How can you stand choosing who to save and who not to save, putting one person's value over another's?"

"Al...it's impossible to save everyone. Did anyone ever tell you how many people died in Central in the military coup we participated in? I chose not to think too much about it at the time, but it was probably really—self-centered and childish of me to try to save Selim when even just that few extra moments could have saved dozens of civilians. At the same time, I don't regret saving him, and it's not something I can change now—either way, I'd have had to choose someone to save and someone to let die. There's no good answer, and right then, he was the one right in front of me. What choice did you have to make?"

"...The monsters came down on us from holes in the ceiling, including one not in the bestiary, some kind of green goo. I realized the monsters were just attacking for the sake of attacking, but the _goo_ was _after me_. I thought of how—slimy—Hojo comes across, even though I had never taken it literally before, and thought of how he'd tried to claim Shelke and me a few weeks earlier. Then...I realized there was probably another goo monster after her, so Elena and I went to find her. But on the way, we could hear people being attacked, and I had to choose to save Shelke or—stop and save them. I had to...She wasn't going to die, but she probably wouldn't have been anything like easy to find if the goo got away with her, and I remembered what you said about Deepground, so I... _had_ to pick _her_ , not all the _other_ people who were going to die, because they were 'just' going to die, not suffer possibly _years_ of torture..." Al's voice was incredibly bitter and pained at the words.

As Ed was about to answer, Anthony's voice came through the PHS speaker, though it was softer than Al's. "Believe it or not, you made the right choice, Al. And you shouldn't feel guilty over the people who died, because _none_ of their deaths were _your_ fault. Also, you more than made up for it by pretty much cleaning up the building for us after, since you made killing the rest of the monsters look _easy_ once the power went out. You saved more people than who died while you were saving Shelke."

"But—" the blond teen began, his voice lower, indicating he'd moved the receiver away from his mouth.

"No buts. I'm a Deepground survivor, too, Al, and I know exactly what was at risk and what we stood to lose," Anthony cut him off calmly. "Hojo was easily as bad as the people in Deepground after what I saw him do to Sephiroth and Genesis, and I can safely say torture is far worse than straight-out death—speaking as someone who suffered torture, I have that right. If it was just going to be death all around, picking whoever had the least ability to protect themselves would have been the more prudent route. And if you had just _talked_ with me about this, I could have helped you clear things up, but you kept it from me instead. Why?" Anthony asked, though he seemed more curious than upset.

"You're a—?" Al began in shock.

"Should I hang up so you can talk with Anthony?" Ed asked, voice raised a bit as he chuckled, and the words produced a snort from Genesis.

"Huh? Sorry, Ed, I just..." Al began, but his breath hitched.

"You're still having trouble just accepting that you can't save everyone. I know. It's a hard thing to learn and to accept. But if Anthony trusts you enough to tell you his origins when he's been hiding them for months now, I think he can really help you, probably more than I can. Is there something specific you want to talk with me about right now? If not, you can call me back later when there _is_ something."

"That much death...You know, we didn't think much of it when it was just one or two monsters out in the wastes, but here...so many bodies, all breaking down into pyreflies at once, it's like a sick parody of a celebration, some kind of—'deathday' celebration instead of a birthday one..." the blond sighed.

There was another sigh, then Anthony's voice came clearly over the PHS as he said, "Eden, leave him to me. And take care of yourself, too."

"Hey!" Al complained, though it was a very small one which really implied exhaustion more than even a pout, let alone anger or indignation.

"I will. Thanks, Anthony. I mean, for taking care of Al for me," Eden told him.

"Now that I know what's wrong, I can actually _do_ something about it," Anthony answered, voice sounding wry. "I'll remind him to call you back after we've had some time to work things out." The line then went dead.

With a small sigh, Eden hung up, only to hear Roy ask a little sleepily, "What about Cadet Valentine's origins?"

"He used to be in Deepground. Unlike Shelke, he was born and raised there," Genesis replied. "Like Shelke, Eden saved him by draining the Mako from his body, but it was for a different reason at the time, and Vant and Sephiroth adopted him into their family unit. Apparently, that made him my brother by default, like Shalua and Shelke take Sephiroth and Angeal as family, older brothers, because they're like brothers to me, too. After what happened in Midgar, it's not a bad thing for Al to get advice from him since he really already knows all of that."

Roy sighed and commented, "You really need to stop saving people 'like' Pride, Eden."

"If I did that, Anthony and Shelke wouldn't be here right now, and so far, you have no complaints about either, Bastard," Eden replied in a dry tone as Genesis gave a short chuckle.

"Will all of you _just go to sleep_ already...?" Rufus as much as whined into their discussion in a sleepy tone. The other three gave amused smiles, but Eden got up and left the room (he still had one more call to make) while Genesis and Roy went to sleep for the night.

Once he was sitting in the main room of the Inn with a hot chocolate in one hand, he found Winry's number and dialed it. She answered after several rings with, "Hey, Ed. Sorry about the wait."

"No problem, Win. You said you needed to talk with me about something?" he answered.

"Yeah." She paused, then said, "Let me get the notes..." He could hear papers shuffling, but then she suddenly asked, "Did you call Al?"

"I did. My discussion with him prompted Anthony to take over for me, so Al will call me back—maybe tomorrow, or later tonight, but we've pretty much all turned in already," he assured her.

"Okay, good. Do you know how much it hurts to die?"

The absent, pained tone in her voice made him sigh. "Yes, Winry, I do. I died once already, but my method of revival wasn't Phoenix, it was a Revive Materia which only had the first level Life spell on it, not the second. Life only heals the fatal damage, not other damage you also took—the back of my skull shattered in my fall, and it repaired my brain and pushed the broken shards back into place, but the bone was still in pieces, just to start. I wanted all of you to have Phoenix and Mastered Revives so you wouldn't have to go through that agony. It never meant the death itself wouldn't hurt, but at least you wouldn't have to deal with residual damage as well."

She sighed as she stopped shuffling papers, but after a moment, she said, "That actually makes a lot of sense, you sending us those 'gifts' courtesy of Zack because of what you went through. Thanks." He gave a noise of agreement, so she went on, "I found the copy of the data."

"So what data is it, and are you at home or at work?"

"Work, laying on my couch with a very nice sundae one of my co-workers brought for me on the coffee table beside me." She sounded faintly amused at that, and more as she added, "No, I'm not technically 'working', but I wasn't ready to sleep yet, anyway."

"Okay," Eden blinked, taking a sip of his hot chocolate. "They still have people making sundaes there so soon after a monster attack?"

"The more they go back to their normal routines, the faster they get over the event and the sooner and easier things get cleaned up, Eden. Didn't Tseng ever tell you that? We encouraged them to keep doing what they could with the materials they had, and to please keep ordering more so they could bring income and livelihoods back to Midgar. There were three cafes and ice cream shops which had an unharmed supply of ice cream and fruits in their fridges and freezers, so they've been making what they can and selling it for a discount to any of the Midgar Monster Attack survivors. There are people in all fields doing the same thing. I can tell you—we're really grateful to be able to get some treats with how worn out we are."

"I see. I wish I could help you with that..."

"But you can't."

"No, I can't. So...the papers you found?"

"Those. They're from the scientists working on the Materia-to-Lifestream project, which is apparently based in Costa del Sol, where Shinra built a small lab," Winry explained. "What they did is compared the Materia naturally produced with the Materia produced as a bi-product in the Reactors and realized they're the same in everything but durability and duration. In other words, the Shinra version are more easily broken and break down more easily than the natural ones—natural ones show next to no depletion after a week of steady use while Shinra bi-products will be nearly a quarter depleted."

The blond fifteen-year-old paused and apparently gulped down a few spoonfulls of her sundae, then went on, "Now, based on that, they kept pushing the use of the Shinra bi-products—apparently, they have a Mage and someone like Zack helping them—until their samples cracked and broke apart. The shards, or flakes, became pyreflies almost as soon as they broke. Based on that, energy usage would be one method of breaking them down, but it still takes some time and a lot of energy to do, so they had to look further. They borrowed some of the notes on the arrays Genesis swears are part of the make-up of the Materia and compared it to the break-down by use. Apparently, their assessment was to somehow wear out or break down the arrays holding them together, but now they have to figure out how because their Mage isn't like Genesis or you. What do you think?" She began eating again while she waited for his answer.

Eden blinked, then blinked again and turned his gaze to the Materia on his Kaiser Knuckles as he eyed them thoughtfully. It _was_ true that breaking an array would cause it to stop functioning, and it was _also_ true part of the array functions in Materia were to give them their forms as Materia shards. On the Planet, that was likely true, and an absolute requirement of everything there, to greater or lesser degrees, meaning to completely dismantle things would involve breaking down those arrays. When something died or began breaking down...was its return to pyreflies caused by those arrays slowly breaking apart?

"That's actually very possible. I have a suspicion that arrays are intrinsic to everything on the Planet, and most things have array degradation very quickly after death. Materia don't 'die', though, so breaking their arrays probably won't be so easy. If they're going for rapid breakdown, it may be possible to overload them with energy—say, off a Reactor, a windmill, whatever the source of power would be. Humans are limited in what they can shove into the Materia because _we_ can only handle so much energy flowing through us, but some sort of electrical energy wouldn't have that and they might be able to explode the arrays by overloading the Materia with energy which isn't going anywhere. They managed to shatter another Materia shard at one point, a very large one which broke into five pieces—their records might show how, since that would give them a place to start," Eden explained to her.

"I see," Winry murmured in a thoughtful tone. "I'll offer that to them in the morning, then. What are _you_ going to do?"

"See if I can figure out a way to damage arrays imprinted into raw, solidified energy," the Turk told the engineer wryly.

"Okay, something only someone aware of the arrays and how to manipulate them directly could do," she answered in amusement, then sighed. "Are you going to have time for that?"

"Most of what we have to do now is try to track down a stone which is needed to open a temple we have to visit. We have no idea how long it'll take to do something so ambiguous, so I'll probably have some time."

"Ah. In that case, are you still as tired as you have been lately?"

"...Yes. It doesn't seem to matter what I do, it just..."

"...Take care of yourself, okay?"

"I will. Thanks. You take care of yourself, too. You should allow yourself at least tomorrow to rest, since Reeve will be back."

"The day after tomorrow. I'll need tomorrow to get him up to speed, especially until the Infantry and Zack get back with Shera, since he'll have to fill my place in Space, too, if I rest."

"...Did the Turks and SOLDIER get time off?"

"I'm not sure. I think most of them have been sent on vacations since this morning, but some are still here and working. Maybe they're waiting for people like Angeal and Zack to get back before they send the rest away?"

"...Possible. Okay, then...Are you really doing okay, besides being tired and trying to get over your first experience with death?"

"Well enough. I've been working more on my Materia Bullet project, though, since it proved useful against Ifrit. Even though the Ice Bullet freezes the gun as it shoots, the Bolt Bullet electrocutes the shooter, the Fire Bullet melts the whole middle section of the gun, and Demi and Quake Bullets both fragment the gun." She sounded excited, though.

"What's a what now?" Eden asked as he realized he had no clue what she was talking about.

"The Mastered Materia dust from the Materia Al keeps shattering into powder—those don't become pyreflies for some reason and are still fully energized, so I thought they might shoot bullets with the trait of whatever Materia dust it was. I'm not like you and don't have a clue how to cast magic or use alchemy, but the bullets work for me, so they'll work for anyone. I had thought of just testing them in a handgun, but ended up trying them in a rifle. I've had one chance to do some tests since my first trial on Ifrit, and my one downfall is getting them to not influence the gun—or shooter, in the case of Bolt. Ideas?"

"Mythril is a conductor. You need to at least line the inside of the gun barrel or the bullet's outer casing with something which isn't one. Maybe you'll need to fix Shield Materia into the gun so it'll be protected from magical energies?"

"Oooooh. That's one I hadn't thought of. Thanks. Anyway, I should let you go now. I'll talk with you later, Ed."

"Yeah. Take care, Win." The two hung up as Eden gave his head a wry shake at her new invention—seriously, did she _want_ to transfer to Weapons?—then finished his hot chocolate and went back to bed.

SH

That was only the first discussion Ed and Al had about such things over the next couple of weeks as they began the search for the stone they needed for the Temple. He spoke with Winry less often, but most of what they had for discussion weren't as pressing as his with Al, and he was glad Anthony was helping the younger blond. Some of their number worked extra hard (like Cissnei) to take their minds off the news they had gotten from Midgar, while others dragged their feet, unable to muster the enthusiasm for the search. Eden was just as tired as usual, but kept up his own work when he wasn't collapsing in sleep.

It was a lot of work to question so many people about something so ambiguous, but the world wasn't majorly populated and each area really only had certain people they needed to talk with who might potentially know something. It was into the third week that they were searching, when they had moved on to Costa del Sol (Eden and Genesis managed to stop in at the Shinra Lab there to ask them about the project), when they finally got a clue. Of course, the 'clue' was someone saying 'Dio at the casino in town had picked up a strange stone, or Materia, or something, on his travels, so maybe he could help them?'

When they checked with Dio, however, he showed them the 'strange stone' and told them he had found it on the ground around the Temple of the Ancients. They asked what he'd trade for it—and he said rather than 'trading' for it, he wanted to go with them to the Temple, in the hopes of finding some sort of treasure there which would help him set up his dream amusement park out in the Corel Desert. They agreed to let him take most of any treasure they found there, but they would definitely get the Materia and reserved the right to pick a few other items if they found any. However, they also warned him they likely wouldn't find much there.

Since he was fine with that, they headed for the Temple, and sure enough, Dio's stone opened the entrance for them—and Cid surprised them by saying he was going along with them into the Temple this time. He 'wanted an adventure for once, dang nab it!' Dio and Cid both noticed how the group seemed disturbed by something, but said nothing as they scoured the Temple (which was a collection of puzzles itself), something they broke into groups to do faster. There wasn't a lot to find, but Dio picked up a few items, and surprisingly, a Cetra spirit had manifested enough to have items for them as well. They also found a Luck Plus and a Morph Materia before meeting back in the mural room, where the puzzle they had to solve was.

"So...What now?" Kunzel asked tightly. "I mean—we know what's going to happen, so...who are we going to sacrifice?"

"Say what?" Dio asked with a thunderous frown.

"We were told solving the puzzle to acquire the Materia here will destroy the person who solves it," Genesis sighed.

"It isn't something I could order one of you to do," Rufus said. "We may just have to leave it as is for now."

"I'm not 'a person', so I could do it," Libby offered from Eden's shoulder.

"So could I," Stray Hope and Cait Sith both added, then looked at one another in something like surprise.

Cid and Dio traded puzzled looks, but then it was Carbuncle who said, " _I'll do it. I'm a spirit anyway, so I can't really be killed—I'll just go back to spirit form and Eden will be able to summon me again after a recovery time. Nothing will change, and you won't lose someone—because Libby, Stray Hope, and Cait Sith all have personalities of their own—that way._ "

Several of the others looked surprised before Eden asked the Summon, "Are you really sure you want to do this, Carbuncle?"

" _Yup. It won't even hurt because I'm a spirit. I'll see everyone again as soon as I'm recovered, and you should all leave now_ ," Carbuncle said, then hopped up to where the puzzle sat to begin working on it.

There was a rumble from around them, causing Roy to hiss, "Shit!"

"Out, now!" Rufus ordered, turning to run for the exit. The others quickly followed him, realizing there wasn't going to be any discussion or debate now that the Summon had already begun working on the puzzle.

Thankfully, it was a reasonably short trip out, and they kept running until they had crossed the bridge, taking a quick head count as the sound of falling rock came from the Temple. Dust rose, but they could only stare in shock as the Temple began shrinking—quickly. Eden _felt_ Carbuncle's arrays shut down, so began walking back across the bridge while the dust was settling, stopping at the edge of a massive hole. It didn't take long for the dust to settle out or for the others to join him to stare into the huge, square-shaped crater which now filled the space where the Temple had once sat.

After a moment, Eden found a path down into the crater, Libby with him still, and began searching around for something with her help. It didn't take them long to find a pure black shard of Materia on the ground in the middle of the crater, so Eden picked it up—and flinched at the terms of Meteor. No wonder Minerva had said she shouldn't have created it.

"...What now?" Genesis asked from beside him.

Breathing out a deep gust of air, the blond Turk answered, "I use this to test the array destroying method to return a Materia to the Lifestream, like Minerva asked."

"We'll leave you here until evening, then," Roy agreed, snatching Libby off his shoulder. "And you're coming with us, Libby, or you might get hit with a backlash from his experiments. If you haven't figured it out by supper, you'll have to wait, Eden."

"Got it," the younger man agreed.

"Take this, too, just in case," Aeris told him softly as she slipped another Materia into his free hand—it called itself White, the holy magic which could also destroy the world.

"Why do you—?" he asked in surprise as he looked up at her.

She gave him a hug and whispered, "It was my birth mother's before it was mine. If you can really destroy Black, now is a good time to also destroy White so they'll both no longer be dangers to anyone, right?"

"Aeris, Genesis, come _on_!" Cissnei shouted at them.

"I'm staying—this is _my_ field of study, too," Genesis replied dryly.

"Coming!" Aeris called as she let go of Eden and quickly ran to catch up with the others.

Eden and Genesis stood silently while they waited for the others to leave as they stared down at the white and black shards of Materia in Eden's hands.


	69. 64-'Pyre-Snow'

'Pyre-Snow'

"So," Genesis began once the others had reached the top of the crater cliff. "We have _both_ Materia Minerva wants destroyed, and we just have to figure out how. How is Carbuncle, by the way?"

Eden looked up at him for a moment, then closed his eyes to seek out the arrays in the Carbuncle Materia. Finally, he said, "It looks like Carbuncle needs three days to recover before I can Summon it again, but otherwise doesn't seem damaged. I hope the experience was actually as painless as it claimed." He opened his eyes again to see the red haired man nod.

"So do I," Genesis agreed. "If that's the case, though, Carbuncle was easily the best of the ones we had to choose from, since it's not a permanent death or destruction that way." It was Eden's turn to nod. "We know we can manipulate the arrays, but those are in minor ways and tend to reverse the changes made on their own, rather quickly. How could we permanently delete part of them?"

"You do realize you could get yourself killed by staying here, right?" the blond asked.

The older man gave him a wry smile and replied, "Pot, kettle, black." Eden blushed as he realized anything currently true of Genesis was also true of _him_. "So, your thoughts on the question at hand?"

With a small sigh, the younger of the two said, "We have to figure out which part of the array is holding the Materia shards together in the _first_ place, because just erasing part of the circle wouldn't do anything besides make it inactive. That isn't to say someone strong-willed or smart enough couldn't still fill in those parts and force it to activate, it just means the energy would stop flowing until that happened. We have to erase what's holding it together, not leave it intact, inactive or not."

"Hmm...what's holding...it together..." Genesis murmured. "So if we go back to basic Materia arrays, that would probably be one which is virtually identical in every Materia shard in order to give it form. Maybe one or all of those three in the five shards of Zirconaide?"

"...That's possible," Eden admitted, then picked a spot on the ragged ground to sit so he was reasonably comfortable. He exchanged both Black and White with two of the Materia on his wrist bracer, sticking the other two in his pocket as he began examining the arrays of the two new and singular Materia. "They're both automatically Mastered," he said. "They're also far stronger than Knights of the Round—more like I imagine Minerva or Jenova would be in their prime. Similar, then, to Chaos or Zirconaide, but with no restriction or stop button."

"That's...And Minerva indicated those were meant to destroy the world, so that meant they were sort of a self-destruct button. I wonder what changed her mind," Genesis commented, gazing absently off into the distance.

"I could hazard a guess and say it's because she has another path now, and hope for the future, whether here or on another world," Eden replied as he stared up at the blue sky above them. The sun shining on them was pleasantly warm, but he felt cold and more tired than he had before they'd left the Temple.

"...True. Mind if I have a look at them?" the red haired man asked. The blond willingly removed them from his bracer and offered them to him, so Genesis also put them in his Wizard Bracelet by removing and pocketing two of his usual Materia. He also found a place to sit while he looked at their arrays, then said, "Definitely Mastered, and definitely with those three arrays, but they look rather—different from the ones we're used to seeing. Then again, these two are unique unto themselves, and Zirconaide only has familiar arrays because of its current state. At the same time, I hesitate to try destroying those."

"I get that same feeling, like it's just too dangerous to try erasing them," Eden agreed. "On the other hand, returning these two to her will return _a lot_ of energy to her, even taking into account her 'size' compared to ours. I mean, each of them is probably close to five percent of her total current energy, while any other Materia shard would be a fraction of a percent. There has to be something more specific which would be able to break them down—I don't think it's a whole array, only a part of one."

"A part of one?" Genesis blinked at him in surprise.

"Yeah...Not the lines setting the mathematical and scientific equations, but the marks running alongside those, the ones which are the 'language' we modify to change their effects or determine what it is and does," the Turk explained. "The problem is, even though I know some of it, I'm guessing the marks are the Cetra language, and I don't think even Aeris knows it well."

"Cetra language...then, the original language of this world?" the red haired man asked with a thoughtful frown.

"I would guess so, unless there was a language Minerva used which predates that," Eden sighed.

The SOLDIER was quiet for a minute before saying, "This might be a long shot, but our Summons might know. As much as I love mine, they're all quite large, and we don't actually _want_ to attract the rest of our group back. Could you summon a few of your smaller-sized ones so we can talk with them?"

With a blink, the blond asked, "How would I know which ones are 'smaller-sized' when the only ones I've summoned are large except for Carbuncle? And Odin, I guess."

"Let's just start with Shiva, Ifrit, Ramuh, and Titan being only marginally larger than a normal human. Also, Choco-Mog is, but that one is pretty obnoxious from what I've heard. We don't know about Sylph, but it's got three of them, so each is probably fairly small. That should cover all the ones you have equipped. If you wanted to fish out Knights of the Round—they're all basically the size of the average man, give or take a bit—but based on their origins, I don't think they would know, because they didn't start here. Atomos—I don't think we want to play with that one right now. Just a feeling," Genesis replied in amusement.

"...So I should summon the four elemental Summons, Odin, and Sylph?" Eden asked curiously.

"Yup," the older man agreed. "Or pass a couple of them to me so I can summon them for you, since you're so tired lately."

"...It's not that my energy is depleted at all—it's not," the Turk replied dryly. "They aren't really all that taxing to summon, not even Odin, and he's the one with the highest summoning cost of them." He shrugged, then held his hand forward and called, from highest cost to lowest and with a pause between each Summon, "Come out and help us solve a dilemma, Odin! Titan! Ramuh! Sylph! Ifrit! Shiva!"

One by one, the six beings appeared to the two men. Odin, in black armor and on his white, six-legged horse, was the only one of this group Eden had seen before. Titan was apparently a dark-skinned man with bulk and muscle and very little of a covering, and Ramuh was an aged man in a robe who had long hair and a long beard with a wooden (he thought it was oak) staff in one hand. Sylph was three two-foot-tall beings with a human shape, butterfly wings, green dresses, and long, brown hair who reminded him of cheerful, young girls. Ifrit, who was female, was lithe with some built muscle, horns, fangs, claws, red-hued yellow skin, and red-furred legs with hooves. She wore something resembling a tank top in red and her deep red hair was long and flaring around her. Shiva was a regal, blue-skinned woman with darker blue hair tied in a long, high ponytail who wore something like a kind of bikini in violet.

Genesis gave an impressed whistle—and a laugh as a wickedly grinning Ifrit teased Shiva by tickling her side with faintly flaming fingertips, only to find her hand frozen and Shiva glaring at her. The other Summons sighed, except for Sylph, all three of whom giggled at the pair.

" _What did you need of us, Ancient Sentinel_?" Ramuh asked. At the words, Ifrit let her hand flare with fire, breaking the ice around it, then turned her attention to the two men.

The two explained the problem with what they needed to find out, and Eden finished with, "As much as I know quite a bit of the language from my past work with the arrays, Materia use a number of terms and words I'm not familiar with, so we were hoping you would know those parts of the language."

Several of them traded looks before Odin said, " _The language was called 'Eidolish' after our original name, Eidolons, or guardian spirits. Minerva gave the Cetra the same language so we and they could communicate without her interference. What you are attempting is obscure language, even to us._ "

"Obscure?" Genesis blinked, then he and the Turk traded looks. "Does that mean you don't know?"

Sylph began drawing on the ground, the three of them clustered around the spot where they were drawing, as Ifrit said, " _We would be more familiar with some aspects of what the Materia arrays are in active form and use, and the language which represents that, not the language which allows Materia to retain its form._ "

" _An unfortunate truth. Destruction of Materia was previously unnecessary, so were lessons which would have had no purpose or use,_ " Shiva added.

"You couldn't have learned it just to learn it?" Eden asked curiously.

" _Perhaps we could have,_ " Shiva began.

" _We simply felt our time was best spent elsewhere,_ " Titan finished. " _We were not prevented from learning it, but as you have found, language imprinting does not imprint obscure language, leaving those aspects to be taught and learned through one's own work. Perhaps some of the most aged of our kind would know, would have taken the time to learn those things._ "

"Aged Summons—Eidolons, sorry—would possibly have the knowledge, yet Ramuh doesn't?" the SOLDIER asked, blinking at the aged-looking Summon.

Several of the others snorted as Ramuh glared and replied, " _I may be more aged than Shiva, Ifrit, and Titan—these three here, at least—but I am barely aged compared to Odin or several others I am aware of, including Knights of the Round. That particular one you now carry has been the same for a thousand years, and I have only a hundred of life. All of my kind happen to resemble an aged human, withered and bark-like._ "

Genesis and Eden traded surprised looks before the red haired man asked, "Why is that?"

"Is it because oak is associated traditionally with lightning?" Eden asked suddenly, having remembered some of his work with the arrays and notes in his father's books.

Ramuh and Odin both nodded as Ramuh agreed, " _Such is the case._ "

" _As such, appearance is not a means to judge the actual age of one of our kind,_ " Odin added.

" _Here, here! Look at these!_ " the three Sylph fairies called suddenly, hovering above the ground where they had been drawing, fingers pointing down at the ground. The two men traded confused looks as the other Eidolons eyed the marks in mixed confusion and dawning realization, but they both got up and moved over to look at what the three had drawn.

What they were looking at was a series of 'letters' from the same language used on the arrays, but nearly all of them unfamiliar.

"So what are they, exactly?" Eden asked the three.

" _Words, very old ones! We knew them because we're—about five thousand years old,_ " one piped up happily.

" _We were free-roaming still until—around the time you came here, Ancient Sentinel,_ " the second of the three went on.

" _Then, Minerva asked us to form because the last one—can't be found now,_ " the third one added.

The second one then finished with, " _They're the words you need!_ "

"...And what does each one mean?" Genesis asked curiously, crouching to peer at them closely. "Which way is right-side up?"

" _Come over here!_ " the third fairy said from the far side of the words.

Genesis and Eden both moved over to join her, then the first fairy pointed to the word which was now at the top of the list and said, " _Esprit._ "

The third fairy pointed to the next one as she spoke. " _Assimilate._ "

The second was next, pointing at the third word. " _Compress._ "

From there, Sylph proceeded through the list from top to bottom, in the order of listing them they had now established.

" _Imprint._ "

" _Sever._ "

" _Aegis._ "

" _Maintain._ "

" _Regenerate._ "

That was the last word, so the second fairy said, " _Look for those all in one array, and you can erase them with this._ " She pointed at the last mark on the ground, which had been centered under the list rather than lined up with it.

The mark was both simple and complex, having a base shape like an upside down V with a smaller X through it. Other elements were in the image as well, a wave-like line above the point of the V, and a circle with another X crossing it between the lower legs of the V and below the cross-point of the X so there was no overlap. Well, other than the top arms of the circle's X crossing the legs of the V slightly. (1)

Eden frowned as he gazed at the list, muttering, "Have I ever seen _all_ of those in one single array...?" He then blinked and looked up at Sylph to say, "Thanks for this. We'll work out the rest from here—if you guys would like to explore for awhile?"

The beings traded startled looks, all but the grinning Sylph, all three of whom eagerly agreed, " _We would!_ "

"Okay, just don't start by going up there. We don't want the others we came with to come back here to check on us in case something goes wrong," Eden agreed, pointing in the direction the others had gone in, which was south of the crater, where the bridge was still intact.

" _Okay!_ " Sylph agreed, and they took off, heading east.

" _I believe I shall also take the opportunity,_ " Odin said after a pause, heading up and north.

" _This is acceptable to you?_ " Titan asked curiously. " _Summoners rarely, if ever, give us such an opportunity._ "

"It's not like it takes my energy to maintain you," the blond replied in amusement. "Go have some time to enjoy yourselves. If I happen to need you before you return, apparently you'll just be moved to my location if I call?"

" _We will,_ " Shiva agreed. " _In that case, I shall also explore._ " She quickly left, also heading northward. After a pause, the other three Summons also took to the air to head east, west, or north initially.

Meanwhile, Genesis had sunk deep into thought and didn't even seem to have noticed the Summons had left. Eden waved his hand in front of the red haired man's face, only to produce no reaction, but when he was about to punch him, Genesis absently caught his fist.

Then, the SOLDIER announced, "Ah-ha!" With a grin, he released the younger man's fist and held the bracer with Black and White on it out in front of him. "Okay, let's see if this will work..."

There were several moments of nothing, but then both Materia flared—and shattered into pyreflies by the millions, which all rose high into the air and began drifting back down as they began fading from view. Except, there were so many of them that the Lifestream couldn't absorb them all at once, so many were reaching the ground and _staying_ there before fading slowly from view over time.

Eden just stared at him, then around at all the pyreflies falling like glowing snow around them, then asked with a strange expression, "What in the world was _that_?"

"I already knew there was an array I had seen all of them in—even Zironaide has one like that. I just had to remember which one and where it tends to sit in the grand scheme of things, especially with all those complex ones like White and Black. I'll show you the one in Zirconaide later," Genesis said, still grinning. He then whacked Eden over the back of the head, making him yelp.

"What was _that_ for?" the Turk glared.

"Eden! Genesis!" several voices yelled in alarm from the top of the crater ridge.

"That was for distracting me and trying to punch me while I was looking for the right array," the red haired man answered dryly. "Now, we'd better head back up there before they worry too much about us." He turned to march in the direction of the southern edge of the crater through the 'pyrefly snow', leaving an annoyed Eden no choice but to follow him—

Then Eden stopped and called, "Send Libby back here to take a copy of those marks Sylph left us!" Genesis gave a wave over his shoulder, and got to the cliff when Kunzel and Freyra were nearly to the bottom. It didn't take long for Eden to nudge the pyreflies away from the marks in the ground with his foot, or for Libby to join him to make the requested copy. He and Libby then quickly made their way back to the top of the cliff so the whole group could cross back to where the Highwind waited for them.

After that, they returned to Costa del Sol to drop Dio off, then headed to Junon for the requested few days there to satisfy President Shinra. Things were getting back to normal in Midgar, and Tseng had left a message for Aeris from her mother in Junon with some of their supplies to head north with. Thanks to Rufus, everyone in Midgar had gotten at least a little time to rest and mourn, but the city was still being made livable again. In a way, it was good, because it meant many new people were moving to the city with the word of the work to rebuild and the fact that nearly every job opportunity in Midgar now had openings if they hadn't already after the Wutain Invasion.

SH

During the travelers' stop-over in Junon, in Midgar, Riha turned up at Kain Fuery's work station like she did every few days, asking, "So, how goes everything, Kain?"

He glanced up at her as he held up his hand in a wait motion, one hand to the headphone he wore and the other quickly returning to fiddling with dials and gears on the switchboard panel in front of him. After a minute, he breathed out a sigh of relief and pulled the headphones off to set them aside, then rose and stretched, trying to loosen stiffened muscles.

"Sorry, ever since the attack and the full power-out, the thing's been finicky as Hell and hasn't been relaying data properly on automatic, let alone the persistent static. I have to keep fine-tuning and adjusting it. At least every time I do it, the whole thing gets easier to work with," he told her with a wry grin. "So, did we have any plans for supper, or are we just hitting the cafeteria like usual, Riha?"

She gave him an amused smile and said, "Let's see how the rebuilding of the city at large is going. Winry said there's at least one place with damned good ice cream in Sector Three."

"Sounds good," the black haired man agreed, grabbing his suit jacket off the back of his chair and pulling it on as they walked out. He noticed the somewhat fearful and somewhat jealous looks of his co-workers, something they had been doing since Riha had been turning up to meet him there. Outside the room, he commented, "You know, I asked one of them what was with the mixed signals they keep giving me."

"And?" she asked, looking amused.

"You were right—most of the company employees aren't friends with the Turks, or even with SOLDIERs, so my being friends with you and Roy makes them very jealous, but they don't dare lay a hand on me for fear of what— _you_ will do to them. Not for fear of what Roy will do, but for fear of the Turks."

"Useful, isn't it?"

"Very," he agreed with a wide grin.

They just held typical small talk as they made their way out of the building, and once they were out in Sector 3, Riha asked softly, "So, what did you have to report?"

"The President—if I was reading the discussion right, anyway—is setting up bombs under the towns, in the Plate and support pillars, and basically anywhere he can put them where there are people he 'owns'. Basically, wherever there's a Shinra base or a Reactor. He's working on the other continent now, and he's doing it very quickly, so I assume he's already rigged this one to blow. Checking the numbers he's been calling led to a series of known criminals with demolitions or explosives backgrounds."

"...Why in the world would he do that?"

"By his own words—he needs insurance in case anyone else betrays him. And I think he realizes some of the factories in the Slums are producing parts for alternative power supplies to Mako, so he's got a good reason for paranoia."

"If we also factor in Heidegger and Hojo trying to kill him, that isn't so far-fetched, but a plan of this magnitude would have begun even before any of that happened. I'll pass word on, then, so we can start finding and dismantling the explosives. Also, it's starting to look like Izumi will have to allow herself and the kids to be taken, so Balto is going to be around here for awhile to keep an eye on things."

"Ouch. I can't see she'd be happy about that," Kain commented, expression pained.

"She's not, but she's relenting more and more as time after time, stings here in the city lead to nothing. I may be called in to work on that with Balto and Reno, but that's undecided," the woman explained. "In the meantime, let's enjoy a meal away from that horrible cafeteria food."

With a laugh, Fuery agreed.


	70. 65-Path to Icicle Inn

Path to Icicle Inn

From Junon, the group of travelers (once again including Carbuncle) headed north, to Bone Village. From there, they would have to walk, but they first needed to get familiar with the situation in the north, from strange weather patterns to the cold, and even to people to watch out for. Their gear to head to Icicle Inn was much heavier than expected, though they likely wouldn't have to use it right away, and they knew they were going to have to prepare for at least a few nights outdoors. Quis was able to help them get up to speed on all the traffickers passing through the area, but there was no real indication of where they were going to. It didn't help that the 'people' they were now meeting were Ravens—ones with wings, who could fly.

Then someone in the town of—well, archaeologists of a sort, though they seemed to behave more like treasure hunters—mentioned that they fairly frequently dig up Materia or Materia-like stones. Since the group hadn't done much the day they had arrived in town, then spent the previous day with Quis, Rufus insisted they spend at least that day, if not longer, looking for Materia before heading north. The whole group found that both exasperating and amusing, as he seemed to be picking up Eden's fondness for Materia hunting for no particular reason. There was no reason to refuse with Icicle Inn locked in a blizzard right then, so they found picks and began helping the men and women working in the pits where they dug things up.

Eden bowed out and found a place nearby to take a nap as an overwhelming exhaustion hit him suddenly. It took him a few hours to wake up, placing the time towards late afternoon but not quite suppertime. Getting up, he wandered to the edge of the pit where they were using dynamite on occasion to get through the rock—only for an explosion to go off below him and a fair-sized portion the edge of the pit under him fell, dropping him into the pit in a shower of stones and dirt with a yelp. When he blinked his eyes open, he could hear a panic-like commotion nearby, but since he was fine, he sat up and looked around.

Two red Materia sat near his hands, so he reached out to pick them up, one in each hand. He then blinked and stared in shock, because they were _both_ ones he hadn't heard of before, one called Fenrir and one called Kirin (1). He had no more time to ponder them as he was quickly scooped up and deposited in the doctor's office, where he was forced to stay until the doctor was sure he wasn't hurt and the rest of his party had arrived. They all looked worried about him—until he gave them a wry grin and held up the two Materia. Then, they gaped in shock for a moment before laughing about his 'unusual methods of Materia hunting.'

After the doctor was done with him, they returned to the Inn and began planning their trip for the next day, which should have headed northwest. Instead, Aeris informed them they were heading east and north, to the Sleeping Forest the villagers had talked about. They pointed out how no one could traverse it, but she replied that they could as long as they were with her, and that Minerva really wanted them to go the route through the Forest because something important was there. Roy, and even Kamil, said they were willing to go with her, because the trip really couldn't take longer either way.

As such, the next day, they headed into the Sleeping Forest as a single group without their usual forward and rear scouts, where there was a strange aura of surrealism. While they walked, some things bounced around—including a red Materia shard which eventually landed in Kamil's hands, and he told the group it was called Kujata. Also during the time they were walking, small, glittering lights began coalescing around Aeris, and to a lesser degree, around Roy. Some of those glittering lights also attached themselves to Eden, Genesis, and Kamil, but they weren't nearly so extensive as the ones around either Aeris or Roy.

Around the time they were debating stopping for supper, they suddenly came to the end of the trees and into a strange valley which looked like it should have been an underwater ocean ravine. They stopped to eat, then pressed on through the valley because it didn't extend very far before narrowing to another small exit across the way. It was there where they found a nest of Boundfats (which didn't normally leave their area), the only known monster to give the Enemy Skill Death Sentence. They resembled something like a cross between a frog and a puffer fish in a sickly yellow and white, and the only way to trigger Death Sentence was to kill them fast—but then they had no way to remove Death Sentence.

Their problem of needing to kill them all off to disconnect the Death Sentence was solved by Genesis unleashing a massive Flare on them once everyone had the Skill they needed. It hadn't taken long with everyone, even Rufus, being very capable in combat by then, so even though some countdowns had gone down to five or ten seconds left, no one died before the Boundfats were dead and the Skill dissipated. A quick check done by Freyra assured them not all the Boundfats were dead, just a lot of them, so they kept going. Previously, the only people who had met Boundfats had been ones traveling in nearby areas and chanced to meet one outside the valley.

It was dusk by the time they stepped out of the ravine exit and into a forest of leafless, skeletal, petrified, white, glowing trees.

Even Aeris was too tired to appreciate that, so they turned in for the night, pitching camp where they were. No one was especially worried about being attacked, so they didn't even bother to post guards, despite the unfamiliar territory. Nothing bothered them overnight, and when they woke in the morning, they were ready to set out again, following the path of hardened sand through the glowing trees until they came to what looked like a large cluster of massive seashells. It didn't take them long of exploring the shells to realize the cluster was a village (or a city, by the number of them in the area) and the shells were homes, but the seven odd crystals they had found around the city—and which made them hear voices when they touched them—were puzzling. They also were having trouble finding an exit.

After they had explored the main area, they gathered back near the middle of the cluster (Roy had found a Comet Materia in one of the shell houses), where Aeris grinned and said, "Now, follow me!"

"I beg your pardon?" Rufus asked her in surprise as she turned to head for one house.

She turned to look at him and said, "This is the only actual city built by the Cetra—or maybe 'appropriated' is the better word—and is what used to be their capital. The turn-over rate was really high, though. Now, it's just called 'the Forgotten Capital of the Ancients.' Or, well, that's what people of Shinra would call it. And there are a lot of spirits here who want us to go to a specific place." Aeris turned her gaze to Roy and asked with a grin, "Right, Second Mustang?"

"Lead the way, Flower Girl. I'm still trying to work out what, or where, they're trying to point us to," he told her in amusement. "Since you interpret faster, you'll speed up the process. It's apparently underground, though."

"Yup. Two places. The Altar and the 'Music Box Room'. Come along," the half-Cetra grinned again as she led the way to the house she'd been heading for before Rufus had stopped her.

"So, were your ancestors fish or something?" Cissnei asked curiously as they headed for it.

"What?" Aeris blinked at her in momentary confusion, then she laughed. "No, not at all. They found this petrified forest like this, so turned the abandoned shells into homes. We don't actually know what left these shells here, though."

"Why was it called a 'Music Box Room', and why would that be important?" Kunzel asked then, as Aeris opened up the trap door in the house she'd chosen.

"That's—sort of like a room of records the Lifestream stored here, and there are many machines, of a sort, around this city to help people hear and speak with the Planet," Aeris explained as she led the way down a very long stairway of stairs which seemed to be made of nothing but light. Many of the group hesitated to step on them until they saw Aeris, Roy, Carbuncle, and Genesis do so. "They all focus their energy on the Music Box Room, and—if the Cetra spirits here are right—the room plays planetary music all the time because of it. As long as the machines are running, at least. They had stopped for a long time, but have apparently started running again for no known reason, except maybe for the Planet willing it. We have to pass by the waterfall to get to it."

When she mentioned a waterfall, all of them actively looked out into their surroundings from near the top of the stairs, staring in shock and awe at what they were seeing. An underground lake (there had also been one above ground), an obvious platform with a path leading to it out in the lake, something which resembled a castle, and more than one walkway leading along the stone walls of the cavern. One of those walkways ran alongside and past a waterfall. There was a fair amount of light shining down from above, but there were also beams of light shining upward from other places—likely the 'machines' Aeris had mentioned.

"My turn, Flower Girl," Freyra put in as they neared the bottom of the stairs. "If all of the Cetra could hear the Lifestream—the Planet—why did your people make a machine to hear it? That would have been redundant."

Everyone stared at her in amazement for a moment before Rufus commented, "That is a _very_ good point." His gaze turned to Aeris as he asked, "Do you know? Are 'they' able to tell you?"

"Not them, Minerva," Aeris answered. "She—I guess knew there were non-Cetra coming here? Not something tangible, but a feeling someone not her own children would be arriving sometime in the future. Anyway, so because she knew that, she had us build this for _them_. That was also why this city was built and we kept it protected and somewhat lived-in for a long time, but in the end, only a very few of those people ever came here, and none moved here like they were _supposed_ to have. I think the last ones to visit and stay longer than two weeks were the thirteen warriors who now make up Knights of the Round."

The others stared at her in amazement and turned their gazes to the city with a new understanding. "So...in a sense, this could be taken as a kind of 'Promised Land', though the applicable terminology would be quite apart from what my father believes it to be," Rufus said slowly. "Because for those unable to hear the Planet, Minerva, this would be a way to communicate with her directly regardless, rather than relying on interpreters. The machines would also have to run on some natural product, and the only one present here would be Mako, or the Lifestream directly. She created her own precedent, even if her method did her little to no harm."

"You're right," Aeris agreed, grinning at him as she stopped near the path leading out to the platform over the water. "These machines run on Lifestream energy which—I think she described it using a dam's water wheels? The water passes through harmlessly and generates energy by virtue of passing through the 'wheels', not by being used directly. But until the world does a lot of changing for the better, we're not allowed to have this knowledge, not of how to put machines like this together. Now, Genesis, be a dear and go get the Materia off the Altar so you can assess it before you try to use it on Eden."

Everyone gaped at her for a moment before Eden asked, "What is _that_ supposed to mean?"

"Remember when Minerva said she made a Materia she thought would help you recover, and it was in the north?" the brown haired young woman asked him. He blinked, so she finished, "This is where she produced it. I think that's why she started up the machines again, too, because she needed this area active in order to form it."

"I see," the blond Turk agreed slowly, absently brushing a hand over his tired eyes.

After a momentary pause, Genesis' lips pressed into a fine line as he met the blond's eyes, then he spun, accessed his wings, and flew over to the platform—the Altar—out on the water. Any of them could have walked on the path to it, but flight was faster. He had returned less than a minute after leaving, landing near the Turk as he held a green Materia shard in his hand. He quickly switched it with one of his usual Materia and closed his eyes as he assessed it, then his eyes widened in shock and realization.

Looking up, Mako-blue met gold as the red haired man said, "She called it 'Cleanse' and meant it as a spiritual purifier, similar in a way to what I did to Nero but not nearly so deadly or final. Then again, I don't think this could have cleansed him of the sheer degree of stagnant Mako they had loaded him up with. If it works the way she intends it to, the lingering negative emotions which were infused into you from when your hand landed in the stagnant Mako pool should be dissipated by it. I think I need your help to activate the spell Purify before it reaches its next level—it's like Full Cure that way."

With a sigh, Eden replied, "Genesis, just cast it the same way you originally did the arrays you used on Nero—you know, when those arrays appeared around your wrist?"

"That—oh!" the red haired man blinked, then gave a small smile and removed the Materia from his bracer to hand it to Eden.

As the others watched with rapt curiosity, he extended his hand and imagined the arrays and sub-arrays needed to activate Purify—and sure enough, they appeared in glowing lines around his wrist before green-white energy swirled around Eden. The Turk blinked in surprise as he stared down at himself for a minute, then looked back up at the SOLDIER curiously. He already looked—and felt—less tired, but it was obvious he'd need a little recovery time after being affected by something akin to a curse for several weeks.

"Thanks," Eden said to him with a faint smile, and Genesis nodded.

"You look better. Let's hope that was really all you needed to recover," the red haired man replied.

"Okay, that's good!" Aeris grinned as she jumped forward to hug the blond, then let him go and threw a fist in the air as she said, "Let's go get the last one in the Music Box now!" She then marched away in the direction of the waterfall, leaving the others to trade bemused looks.

"You know, if she wasn't—her, that would have been insulting," Nanaki commented in wry amusement.

"We should catch up to her, though," Cissnei sighed, trotting off after the other fifteen-year-old.

The others followed the two of them to the Music Box, where they explored for awhile as Aeris retrieved an Independent Materia called Underwater. From there, they returned to the upper city, where there was now a path open to the north and west of the city, where they passed through a short cave—and came out in snow. They retreated into the cave to pull out the gear they needed for the trek to Icicle Inn, then realized it was dark out and they'd missed a meal, so set up camp with the intent to leave the cave again in the morning.

Morning came all too soon, and they were setting out again in the snowy region. The day was mostly clear with only light flurries throughout the time they traveled, so they made good time and were a little over half-way to Icicle Inn before deciding to stop and rest. They hoped the second day would proceed so well, but as luck would have it, the flurries were heavier by then and their pace slowed by wind. They had to find a cave to camp in that night because tents wouldn't be sufficient protection, so had to cut their travel time short in the interests of finding a suitable resting place for the night. Things had calmed again by morning, so they were able to make it to Icicle Inn by mid-morning.

A rather pissed Judet was waiting for them by the entrance, saying as they walked up, "You should have been here yesterday. _Yes-ter-day_! Then, you didn't show up, and you didn't bother to call ahead, either, even though Quis told me when you left Bone Village! The travelers who came in late yesterday evening didn't see you, either, and they should have passed you on the way! Where in Shiva's name _were_ you?"

Everyone stopped to gape at her for a moment before Rufus cleared his throat and said, "We happened to have a privileged few who were able to grant us passage through the Sleeping Forest and up onto the shelf from the east, so the travelers wouldn't have passed us if they went the north-western route. As to the other, we would have been here yesterday, but the snow was too heavy for us to make it that far at night. No one informed us we needed to check with you about our expected arrival time or we would have."

She glared around at the group, eyes falling on Cissnei as she said, " _You definitely_ should have known to tell me, Cissnei! Why didn't you?"

"Uh, does this have something to do with danger zones and having a place to start looking if something happens?" Freyra asked suddenly.

"It does," Cissnei agreed with a small sigh. "Sorry, Judet. I don't have any real reason except that I just—didn't think of it."

"You didn't—?" the older woman began in shock. It then turned to anger as she almost yelled, "How the Hellfire would we have felt if you had just _never gotten here_? We've already lost—" she paused as she closed her eyes with an expression more of pain than of anger for a moment. When she looked up at the others again, her gaze was sad and her voice softer, "The northern region is _dangerous_. I know you have a guide with you who knows northern climates, but that doesn't guarantee you'll be _safe_ , just 'safer'. In this environment, someone _needs_ to know where you are and your route and timing so there's a place to start looking quickly— _time_ is one thing you don't have out here. Don't ever be so careless again."

A silence followed as several throats closed at the reminder of the deaths in Midgar, but they were interrupted as a familiar, cheerful voice said from nearby, "So they _did_ get here safely before noon." Their heads all whipped around—to see Zack standing several feet away and grinning like a loon over the rim of his thick, winter coat.

"Zack!" Aeris grinned, running to him to hug him.

"Hello there, Flower Girl. How have you been?" he asked her as he returned her hug.

"So Lazard was serious about having you come here in exchange for them getting some time off to rest," Genesis commented with a wry smile.

"Of course," Zack agreed over the top of Aeris' head. "The rest agreed that it was safer in the north, too. You never _did_ say if Judet was joining you, so Tseng made sure to send me with enough supplies for her, too, just in case. I only got here yesterday as the blizzard was toning down. If Judet's coming along, we'll have to check in with Quis so he knows where to send a rescue team, and if she's not, we have to check with her. Every day, morning and evening. I assume we're setting out tomorrow, though."

"That would be the best plan," Rufus sighed. He then faced Kamil and asked, "Would you prefer Judet's presence as a native of the Icicle Inn area or not?"

"Going into what I've heard of the Norther Crater, I honestly think we're better off having her than not. Things happen—especially to Eden—and we'll _all_ be that much better prepared with two northerners to keep track of dangers," Kamil replied.

"Morning for us all it is," the President's son answered. "Now, may we _please_ move this indoors where it's _warm_?"

"I'll check the shops before I join you at the Inn," Eden said.

"I've saved you the trouble, 'Materia Hunter Eden'," Judet replied dryly, tossing him a blue Materia shard. He caught it as she added, "That's the only one of our Materia which is unique to the area, and the rest can be bought in shops in towns you've already been to. Let's get to the Inn so you can settle in while I update Tseng."

"Thanks," the younger Turk answered as he assessed the Materia called Counter and all of the travelers followed her and Zack to the Inn.

"What kind of route are we looking at from here?" Kamil asked Judet as they walked.

"There's a long slope leading three quarters of the way down to the Great Glacier and Gaia's Cliff," Judet told him, noting how the others were listening intently. "On clear days, the slope is used as a ski slope and has a lift to bring people from the—nominal—bottom back up to here, but there are times where you can reach Gaia's Cliff on one run down the ski slope—I've done it personally a few times, but never made much effort to climb the Cliff. We could also walk down, but in all honesty, it would take us almost a day to reach Gaia's Cliff if we walk down the slope, while it'll take less than half an hour if we ski down. I'm saying that because I checked the slope earlier and it's good to take us right to the foot of the Cliff.

"From there, we'll have to do the hard work, because Gaia's Cliff isn't an easy climb almost straight up a wall of ice. There's an old man in a cabin at the foot of the Cliff who helps climbers in whatever way he can, so we should probably visit him to find out what state the Cliff is in before we head up. Around the edge of the Crater, the ice turns to stone in the Whirlwind Maze, so called because it has been known to generate winds strong enough to knock a person several feet from where they started. Reaching some areas of the path requires letting it do so, even. Through the Maze is the Crater, and somewhere in the Crater is the deeper Cave, but our data on that area is sparse at best."

"...Wow..." a few of the others muttered.

"Uh...I've never skied before..." Aeris said quietly, her tone nervous.

"Then we'll use the afternoon to practice once you've all warmed up, rested, and ate," Zack replied cheerfully.

"That would be the best option, otherwise we'll most likely lose some people on the trip down," Kamil agreed.

"Who here knows how to ski?" Judet asked as she stopped outside the door to the Inn to face the group. Kamil and Zack raised their hands, as did Kunzel, but other than the three of them and Judet, no one had been skiing before. She sighed and said, "Then we'll probably need the whole afternoon to get everyone set for the trip down. In here." As she said the last, she opened the door to the Inn, letting everyone file in behind her.

Inside, the Innkeeper stared at them in shock and awe, then jumped into action with the help of his wife to make sure they could accommodate the group, even as Judet, Kamil, Kunzel, and Zack began planning out the skiing lessons and who would instruct whom. Judet banned the couples from teaching their significant other by reasoning that they'd never actually move on from the person in question if they did. The two young men in question just gave her amused looks and let her and Kamil assign them trainees.

In the end, Kamil and Kunzel ended up taking Genesis (because he was being obstinate and saying he'd skip all that and just fly), Deneh, Nanaki, and Dark Nation. Because of the Guard Hound's size, he actually had to learn to ski because he couldn't be carried like Carbuncle and the robots, and would only learn to ski by 'observing' Nanaki and Deneh, who were similar to alphas to him. It was obvious they would have their work cut out for them just teaching Deneh and Nanaki, let alone Genesis and Dark Nation, so Zack and Judet took the other six. Zack would focus on Rufus, Eden, and Freyra while Judet would work with Aeris, Cissnei, and Roy.

Needless to say, they had a rather eventful (and entertaining) afternoon.


	71. 66-Northern Cave

**A/N:** In this part of the world/cave, I'm mainly basing everything off the monsters and general progression in the FFVII original main game.

Northern Cave

The next morning, the group set out down the ski slopes, led by Judet and with Zack, Kunzel, and Kamil flanking them in case something went wrong. Ironically enough, the one who enjoyed the trip the most was Dark Nation, though the others weren't in danger of crashing or losing their balance—all but Aeris, who managed to fall once...and got up with a Support Materia in her hand from where it had been hidden under the snow. The others mainly just needed the three men to make sure they turned at the right times to keep following Judet. By the time they ran out of speed and came to a stop, they were about thirty feet from the foot of the cliff they had been aiming for, Gaia's Cliff.

It _really was_ a steep wall of ice.

After speaking with the man at the cabin, Holzoff, who warned them about keeping their body temperatures up while climbing, and finding out Aeris had found an Added Cut Materia, they were able to start making their way up the Cliff. Genesis flew Dark Nation, Nanaki, and Deneh to the top of the Cliff, then went exploring around the time snows and winds began coming in. About half an hour later, the snow and wind stopped, and another ten minutes after that, the man returned to direct them to a side path where they could rest at a hot spring. He went back to the three at the top of the Cliff to give them a warm-up, then rejoined the group to actually climb to the next ledge where they'd be able to rest.

It was on the second ledge, in the cave they'd found which would be good for a break, that they met a Stilva, which gave them the Enemy Skill Trine. The monster was similar to a kind of scorpion with many more claws and a very hard shell, but one use of Trine gave it to everyone in the group, so Genesis, Roy, and Zack wiped it out soon after that, even as Aeris healed everyone. Once it was dead, the others heaved sighs of relief and sat down to eat as Genesis told them about 'Snow' and 'Alex', who had turned out to be a Shiva and an Alexander, both of which he now had new Materia for. Snow, unfortunately, had been the cause of the peculiar blizzards.

Their next portion of the climb took them to the top of Gaia's Cliff, where Deneh and Nanaki told them they'd found the path through Whirlwind Maze while waiting for them—and they'd found a Magic Turbo Support Materia while exploring. Because the two had been able to take the time to find their way through the area, the others were able to pass through it much more quickly than they normally would have been able to. As such, they were at the Northern Crater's inner ridge before they would have stopped to eat supper. That also meant they wanted to explore the glowing patch below them, in the heart of the Crater, so the group made their way down the mixed rocks and ice.

It was also then when the monster attacks drastically increased, both in number and in strength. The monsters ranged from Parasites to Gargoyles to Dark Dragons at first, but then expanded to include Scissors. Parasites were a wide, flat, circular and spiked bug-like creature, Dark Dragons looked like the Dragons in Mt. Nibel with near-black scales rather than green, and Scissors looked humanoid with massive claws on their 'hands' and 'feet'. While Eden had fought Gargoyles before in Shinra Manor in Nibelheim, these ones were _much_ stronger. They had also just gotten four Enemy Skills in about an hour, Death and Magic Breath from the Parasites and Dragon Force and Laser from the Dark Dragons, though they needed to use Manipulate to get all but Death.

In the glowing core of the crater, they found themselves in an icy 'room' which looked like it had a chunk taken out of it. The monsters weren't stepping into that area, leaving them a place where they could rest and eat as they examined their surroundings. It became clear in short order that there were massive entities stuck in the icy-Mako walls of the chamber, beings Aeris said were the Weapons meant to destroy Jenova. Because of their presence, that was their best place to rest, something they definitely wouldn't be able to do later. They even found a Magic Materia called Fly in a small well-spring of natural Mako which had formed in the hole where the 'chunk' had been taken out.

They were also obviously very close to the Lifestream, as even Kamil, let alone Roy and Aeris, could affirm there was a rather extensive and dangerous cave system beyond their current location.

As such, they took their last good, safe rest to relax for the evening before trying to sleep. Eden and Genesis moved over to one side of the room, away from the others, and took Libby with them—everyone knew they were working on Zirconaide's arrays again. They had also invited Roy to join them, but he bowed out, saying he had nothing more to assist them with—human transmutation had never actually been his specialty, let alone what they were trying to do. As such, the two men were left to work by themselves.

"Okay, Librarian, we need to see Zirconaide's arrays again," Eden told her. That time, rather than whispering in her ear, he spoke just loudly enough for Genesis to hear him.

Libby projected the data they needed as Genesis' brow rose almost into his hair line and he asked, "Haven't you been taking pains to keep others from knowing her true name? Then again, I had wondered why testing Elizabeth hadn't worked. Very clever of you to call her Libby as short for Librarian instead of the obvious option."

"That's why it worked so well," the blond grinned wryly. "But I thought you should know, just in case you need to fetch something from her and I'm not around to do it myself. We've both been compiling data in her memory banks, after all." He then turned to the projection and said, "But now we have to start working out what changes we need to make to those three arrays now that we know which ones we need to move where and have moved or fixed the ones we were able to."

"I used one of my testing Materia to verify that we couldn't just over-write them, so there must be an order to it, or stages it needs to go through," the red haired man said thoughtfully as he pulled the ones they needed to the fore of the image.

"Maybe it's similar to how the 'words' to create them and to reduce them back to Lifestream were placed in a specific order for a reason," Eden offered. "There may be a similar 'order' to determining what 'type' of Materia they'll be."

"That's true. I was thinking that, myself, and the only question then is, 'what order?' We know the words we'll need will be in these three arrays, so let's start with that, making a list of everything we know. We might have to ask Sylph again."

"Well, there are definitely some of these words I don't know the meanings of, so we'll probably have to get her to at least define those for us. List, first."

They spent a few hours working on those words—and did have Sylph join them to define the words they didn't recognize—glad the area produced enough of its own natural light to let them work no matter how dark it got outside. At that point, they were tired, so joined the others to sleep in preparation for what they were likely to be facing over the next couple days. Needless to say, Rufus was now very grateful for the large group he'd always thought of as 'over-kill'. Morning came almost too soon for most of the group.

Still, they had to push forward, so they ate and prepared themselves for what would be waiting for them as they entered the cave. They were actually grateful that the cave warmed quickly and they could leave their heavy winter supplies in the one safe zone they had, taking only necessities like weapons and food with them. In the first area of the cave past the safe zone, there was one obvious path leading down—and many, many more monsters. They were still the same kinds they had been fighting up until that point.

Until they encountered a Master Tonberry (it looked like a blue, seal-like creature with a fish-like tail and wearing a red coat, carrying a lantern in one hand and a knife in the other, and with a yellow star hovering over its head) and Genesis swore viciously enough to put Cid to shame. When the others looked at him, he just sighed tiredly and explained, "It may move slowly, but it never misses and always kills in one hit. Don't let it get close to you—I'd rather tangle with _ten_ Dark Dragons at once than with _one_ Master Tonberry. Of course, we could also get a Ribbon off it with Morph."

"Aren't there ways around that death thing it does?" Cissnei asked.

"Death Force!" Aeris put in cheerfully, making the others turn to stare at her. "What? It's an Enemy Skill all of you who are collecting them have, so it's not like it's something we're short on." Master Tonberry was very slowly moving closer to them.

"Hold on—speaking of Skills, I think we can use Bio on it," the red haired SOLDIER commented. "If we use it enough, we can morph it into a Ribbon. Let's do it this way—and Eden, get Morph out, would you?" A moment later, he had spewed Bad Breath at it, which poisoned it as Genesis had thought.

"Hey, how did you get Bad Breath if you can only get it from Malboros, which are only found here?" Kunzel asked in shock.

"Uh, Kunzel, monsters _do_ sometimes travel," Genesis sighed as he rolled his eyes. "There have been _at least_ eleven Malboro attacks in areas as far south as Fort Condor just since I joined. I got Bad Breath from repelling one of those."

"Oh..." he answered as Zack gave him a grin and side-stepped the Master Tonberry. It turned to face Zack again, making Kunzel comment in amusement, "Looks like you found something that really wants to kill you, Zack."

"I'd be more worried if it wasn't a monster," the black haired young man replied in amusement.

Aeris had been chuckling at their antics as she gazed at Zack—only to suddenly call urgently, "Look out behind you, Zack!"

He yelped and dodged, only for—what looked like a Shinra Infantryman to shoot past him and ram into the Master Tonberry, causing the two to kill each other. Metal grating on metal caused everyone to look back at Zack, where another man like the first was apparently trying to kill him. Around a nearby pile of rock which they had thought was just sitting in front of a solid rock wall came a strange-looking—machine? It had a lance-like blade for a head, arms with metal plating on the outside and two deadly claws for fingers, and seemed to have a large, metal ball in place of its legs. The Shinra logo, while somewhat faded, was painted on its chest.

"What on Gaia...?" Freyra asked in confusion as she shot at the machine.

"Here," Eden said as he clapped and put his hands down to create a spike to spear the machine.

The spike retracted quickly at his bidding, and the machine was a pile of scrap metal they could examine further—only for a bird similar to an Epiolnis to sprint over the pile and launch itself at Eden, trying to peck him. It was Roy who nearly incinerated the flightless bird, then hit the Trooper with the same flame attack.

While the bird took significant damage, the Trooper didn't.

Kamil had gotten behind the Trooper by then, as he was still fighting Zack, so he used his daggers to attack the—clearly insane—man. It wasn't long after that when the Trooper died and everyone just stood there in stunned shock for a minute.

"So...What just happened?" Cissnei asked, expression one of puzzled disgust. "I mean, Shinra sending their own people to attack us like this..."

"I'm not sure they were 'sent' by that definition," Zack replied, holding out his PHS to show SOLDIER's Missions page. One was open, one noted as being for a 'northern cave'. "There's not much to it, yet, but they were exploring caves which were supposed to come out—I guess near the outer edge of the Great Glacier? Maybe they actually come right through and connect to this cave? The problem is that a lot of our people assigned to go exploring that cave system stopped reporting back, and for the ones who did, it was to ask for help because some of their own allies had attacked them."

The others stared at Zack as Genesis crossed his arms and said, "That's true. It seems the 'back door' is a far more dangerous one than the 'front door', in that case."

"But the room we were in was probably Jenova's and Jenova isn't around, so the only other 'presence' here capable of doing that is Minerva," Aeris assessed with a puzzled frown, then marched over to the rock to check behind it. Carbuncle followed her readily.

"Aeris, wait!" Cissnei called as she ran to catch up with her. "What are you planning to do?"

"Find out if it _is_ Minerva and ask her why she's doing it," Aeris replied. "I'm going." She then turned to look at Zack and said, "You're not coming."

"...I'm not?" he asked in confusion.

"Every monster except one was fixated on you. Better if you stay here where only the more _normal_ monsters will be," she told him. "Besides, I want the Cetra to come with me."

"You'll be taking all of my strongest guards in that case," Rufus glared at her.

"So start _using_ things like your own Carbuncle Summon and the Enemy Skills you've been gathering," Aeris replied to him dryly. "And Zack won't be a bad guard, or any of the Turks here, or even Kunzel." She turned to Cissnei and added, "Because I'm taking Eden and Genesis—and Roy—you should stay with Rufus for now."

"But _you're my_ charge!" Cissnei glared at her. "Tseng will kill me if I don't do my job and you get hurt."

"Which is why she's appropriating the Cetra, including _both_ of Rufus' _assigned_ guards," Eden answered the younger Turk, who looked at him in confusion. "Also, it's a lot less likely for whatever's going on in the other portion of the caves to affect those with Cetra blood, especially if it _is_ Minerva doing it. Better to risk those of us with some immunity than those with none. You, Zack, Rufus—you all have no Cetra blood in you, or at least none that's active, so you're in more danger of going insane than we are."

"...So we're splitting into t—?" Freyra began.

A massive roar cut her off as two Dark Dragons charged at them, followed quickly by a third. With sighs, they went to work on taking the new arrivals out, then returned to the middle of the path to finish the discussion they had begun.

"So...two groups?" Freyra asked.

"We'll have to," Roy put in, head cocked to the side like he was listening to something. "If those four enemies were any indication, the other side is going to be more dangerous, and this side would have been dangerous enough. Some of the group may miss Enemy Skills, though."

"We'll stay a little longer, then. It's not like we don't have food," Genesis replied with a shrug, sounding amused.

"Don't be careless, though," Judet frowned at them. "And remember to check the time and report to me so I can give an update to Quis. If you don't, I swear I'll bring you back to life just so I can kill you again!"

Eden rubbed the back of his head and said, "Assuming we'll be gone that long, we'll make sure we do."

"You had better," the older Turk reiterated, causing Freyra to chuckle and Cissnei to sigh.

"Calm down, Judet. You can get mad at them if, or when, they don't report in, not when they haven't even had a chance to do—or not do—so," the red haired Turk told the pale haired woman. Judet glared at her, then turned her back on the group.

"We'll take Carbuncle—since it's already decided it's coming with us—and Libby," Aeris added. "I'm not sure about anything else with what we could be walking into. Libby is enough of a chance if Shinra machines are being taken over, too."

"Well, travel safely, then, and we'll meet back at that safe zone we found when we each finish traveling our respective caves," Rufus finally agreed with a sigh.

With that, the two groups parted ways, Roy, Kamil, Genesis, and Eden following Aeris to where Carbuncle waited by the rock, Libby clinging to Eden's shoulder again. Rufus, on the other hand, almost hesitantly turned to head down the path they had been intending to follow, but when he saw Nanaki and Deneh following his group rather than going with Aeris', he felt better—they had turned out to be easily a match for SOLDIER Firsts. Zack's presence also helped assure him, along with the remaining Turks, Judet, Freyra, and Cissnei. He also still had Kunzel and Dark Nation, who were both capable at combat, even if Stray Hope and Cait Sith were very literal non-combatants.

They fought their way through the rest of that path down, only to find themselves at the bottom of a cave with two paths to follow. If they hadn't had any less-skilled- or non-combatants, they may have been able to risk splitting into two groups, but everyone felt safer staying together. Zack took the lead—and everyone was immediately very glad when the first thing they met down the path they had first chosen was a Dragon Zombie. The first thing it did was use Pandora's Box on them, one of the Enemy Skills they were after, but the Skill sure packed a major punch and reduced their health exponentially. It was actually Rufus using White Wind several times in succession which kept them alive long enough to get Shadow Flare off the Dragon Zombie as well before Zack and Deneh killed it.

After the Dragon Zombie, they met a Malboro, followed by a few Parasites—then a Pollensalta and a Death Dealer in quick succession. While the Dragon Zombie had simply resembled a decaying Dragon with skeletal wings, the Death Dealer had greatly resembled a Joker, but in all black 'clothing' and with superficial—and creepy—minor differences. The Malboro had resembled a green plant with a multitude of root-tentacle legs (Dark Nation seemed to detest those legs and attacked them viciously), a bulbous 'head' mostly filled with a massive, fanged maw, and many dozens of 'eye-stalks' rising from its head. Of all the monsters, the Pollensalta was the eeriest, as 'she' resembled a human woman with dark hair and barely covered in a yellow bodysuit. Only 'her' abilities assured them they weren't fighting a human woman.

And 'abilities' every one of the monsters had, though they had already gotten the ones off the Parasite and (recently) the Dragon Zombie. The Malboro had Bad Breath, of course, and the Pollensalta gave them Angel Whisper when they used Manipulate on 'her'. Also using Manipulate, they were able to get Roulette off the Death Dealer (it was Kunzel who remembered to use Death Force on them)—and with that, Rufus, Freyra, and Kunzel all Mastered their Enemy Skill Materia.

It took them standing there in shock for a moment while the rest of the group took out the Death Dealer before it registered in their minds that they had Mastered it. After a pause, Freyra let out a whoop as she threw her fist in the air, then jumped to hug Kunzel around the neck while she laughed. He just grinned stupidly and hugged her back as Rufus snorted in amusement, eyes gleaming with pride. The Death Dealer went down fast, so the others faced them again with smiles or wide grins and words of congratulations, even Judet, knowing how hard they had been working to Master something nearly impossible to Master.

However, they didn't have long to celebrate, as more monsters came up from deeper down the path they were following, more of the same kinds they had just been fighting. As such, they pushed forward and kept moving down that path. Along the way, they found a W Summon Materia, and reached the bottom of the path to find it splitting into two from there. First, they ate their lunch, then worked out the next stage of the trek they were on. Just to make sure the path leading back up would return them to the same place as the first juncture they'd found, they followed it (it did), fighting those same monsters all along the way. The path was shorter on that side, and the trip back down it was much less monster-riddled than the one going up.

As such, they opted to move on to the next path from the second junction, which led them into caves with King Behemoths, Armored Golems, Allemagnes, and Master Tonberrys. The Allemagne looked like an Evil Eye, but yellowish with wings in a purple-whiteish color, the King Behemoths were the yellow ones with dark blue manes—like the one which had killed Maur—and the Armored Golem was a stone, humanoid-like being covered in metal plates.

All three of the Lady Turks decisively wiped out any King Behemoth they saw, successfully earning them several surprise attacks on the monsters as they fought with a kind of cold rage or hatred the men had never seen before. In fear for their lives, the men (except for Nanaki) backed off and let the women do what they wanted, but fought the other monsters as they came up. Zack and Kunzel mainly handled the Armored Golems, but everyone else participated equally in fighting the Allemagnes and Master Tonberrys.

After that section, they reached a small cave section they could easily defend, and a check of the time showed it was pretty late in the day, so they decided to stop there to rest for the night. Not long after, before they had fully settled and set up their watch for the night, Judet got a call from Kamil, and shortly after she affirmed both groups' safe arrivals at a rest stop, she called Quis to update him on their progress. Their night watch would switch three times that night, and Deneh and Nanaki offered to take the middle watch so no one else would have to sleep, wake up for a few hours, then try to go back to sleep. After all, they had the cat-like ability to wake and sleep by turns without difficulty, so they wouldn't lose sleep by needing to wind down after a watch.

In the morning, they were able to get the morning meals and calls out of the way, but finding places and means to deal with bodily necessities was harder and required the men and the women to split into two groups to tend to those needs. At least travel food had meant they had retained water the previous day, but those functions could no longer be put off. After that was taken care of (Rufus had found it the most awkward of all of them), they set out into the next segment of the cave. Only the Allemagne and Master Tonberry were familiar to them in that section.

Besides those two monsters, they also met Movers, Gighees, Christophers, and Magic Pots. A Mover looked like a glowing, red ball about the size of a basketball which had two black dots on it which served as eyes, and nearly always came in sets of three. Christophers always appeared with Gighees, which had an oddly musical theme to them. The former had a blond, human boy's appearance with a face covered by a mask with two long, wing-like protrusions and the latter was a pink, horse-like creature wearing a star-covered vest and with what looked like a guitar neck for a tail. The Magic Pot was a gold jar with an eye on it and a purple, imp-like creature living in it.

On their path, which was rather watery right then, they found a Health Absorb Materia, and as they were fighting, they ended up in a cavern where some grass was growing without even realizing it until the most recent round of enemies had been dealt with. After fighting a few more monsters there, they could stop and eat, then proceed to move forward—back into a round of King Behemoths, Armored Golems, Allemagnes, and Master Tonberrys. Those lasted through the couple of grassy caverns, until they came out in a shining, massive area where they were apparently breathing fresh air and there was essentially a waterfall of Lifestream flowing around them.

It also looked like the next stage of the journey was going to be across many floating, rock platforms with a glowing bridge of square panels of light similar to the stairs in the Forgotten Capital at the bottom. Each of the fifteen platforms leading to the bridge also had enemies on them, enemies which didn't seem inclined to leave the platform they were on. Six of them were a new type of monster called an Iron Man, which was a metal, armored being with a very large sword, but the other nine platforms either had Dragon Zombies or a pair of Allemagnes on them.

With small sighs, the group began working their way across the platforms, battling each monster as they came to it. When the last Iron Man fell, they were able to proceed across the bridge—

Only to find their vision flaring, then going dark, and finally, turning green-hued white as the energies around them became the glowing, shifting bands of pure Lifestream.


	72. 67-Second Trigger

**A/N:** Enemies in this portion of the cave are based on ones which appeared in Crisis Core in Zack's longest-running and 'final' optional Mission, though the cave is mainly my own creation because the images I saw of it from Crisis Core data made it too little like a proper cave people were exploring. More at the end, since I edited more than just this.

Second Trigger

Aeris, Carbuncle, Eden, Libby, Genesis, Roy, and Kamil made their way through the cave past the rock, only to find themselves working their way through a rather long, wide tunnel at first. They found an odd few crazed Infantrymen, more of those 'ball rider' machines, and even a couple of updated Sweepers mixed in with the monsters apparently native to the caves. As for the monsters on that part of the path, they met Parasites, Malboros, Pollensaltas, Death Dealers, and Dragon Zombies—that meant the four men were able to collect their last Enemy Skills without issue—but the real worry were the Infantrymen and the two kinds of machines. There were also a few of the strange birds there. Needless to say, having Carbuncle give them shielding was very useful and welcome, and Libby's decision to stay with Aeris (she had no choice but to act as their full-time healer) was also good.

They made it through that long, downward-sloping tunnel and found a small section like an independent room to sit for a bit and have their meal. The next section they progressed into actually had two paths, one leading up and one leading down, but they all knew they had to make their way down, so chose that path. It took them into a deep, dark cavern where they had to half-climb down from path and ledge to path and ledge, all while being attacked by rather powerful monsters they weren't particularly familiar with or expecting. After a check in his system, Genesis said there were actual registries for monsters 'like them' in Shinra's database, but they would have been one of the rarer variants listed.

There was a Hunting Hound first and foremost, which was a brown Guard Hound type which was quite a bit more powerful, and a Deathgaze, which was very similar to an Evil Eye—also more powerful than its more common relative. Also noted to have more normal relatives were the Scissor Devil and Tycoon (the name produced snorts of amusement from Eden, Roy, and Kamil), which were a stronger Death Claw and Griffin, the former colored in brown and red and the latter brown and white. The Tycoon only differed in its mixed eagle and lion appearance from the Griffin by its brown and white (rather than completely white) wings, paler brown coloring, and white head-crest (rather than black).

They also had every known type of Sahagin and Tonberry, the former ranging from the normal Sahagin to the Emperor Sahagin (they also ranged in coloring across the green, brown, and gray scale), and the latter including everything from the Tonberry to the Holy Tonberry (Master, Guard, and King). They ranged in color from yellowish to green to blue with brown or red coats, and all but the normal Tonberry had either a star or a crown hovering above its head. On top of those, they still had random birds, which they now knew were called Diatrymas by their brown, white, and lilac-ish coloring (which should have been extinct), Infantrymen, 'ball rollers', and Sweepers.

It was a long trek down the cliff to the bottom of the cavern, where they reached flat ground and found another cave leading deeper into a small room like they'd found above before it led forward. The small room was something they were grateful for because it gave them a chance to rest, and a check of the time showed it was actually time to stop for the night. Kamil called Judet to let them know they'd found a place to stop for the night, and Carbuncle set up a Shield for them around the room so they would all be able to rest for the night. Morning came all too soon, and the men woke up to find Aeris already awake and cooking a packet of dried soup—she'd gotten the water for it by taking Eden's Water Materia (the others looked at the blond in confusion at that) and the fire by using her Fire Materia.

"I didn't know there _was_ a Water Materia," Genesis commented.

"I found it in the Wutain Black Market shop," Eden answered dismissively. "One called Aero, too—and Tornado now makes more sense."

"I see," Genesis blinked. "Get Zack to make me a copy of Aero, then."

"Sure," the Turk agreed.

"On a side-note," Kamil cut in, eyes on Aeris as she mainly just sat with her portion of the soup in her hands. "Aeris, you'd be the one most able to sense the—discord. Do you know what it means?"

She looked up and shook her head. "It's because something isn't right, something which wasn't supposed to be happening. That's all I can tell. It's like—something is just _wrong_ in general. We'll have to ask her to find out."

"Meaning she may not have a real reason to give us?" Roy asked with a small frown.

"No, I'm sure she has one," the brown haired now-sixteen-year-old replied. "It just doesn't transfer well through the Lifestream because it's too broad. Roy, she's not like the false deities of your world which rely on you just putting faith in someone, even when you get the short end of the stick every single time. You keep trying to find fault with a woman who is putting herself out, risking her own life, to try to save the same people who are destroying her. I'd appreciate it if you learned to open your mind and reserve judgment until you have her reason, which is why we're going to her anyway."

The man blushed at her practical, calm, and thorough chastising, but said nothing further as the others gave wryly amused grins. After eating, the men took a turn at relieving themselves while Aeris waited in the protected area, then Kamil called in to Judet to let her know they were setting out again. They progressed into the next portion of the cave, where they had Diatrymas, Sahagins, and Tonberrys in large numbers (less of the Tonberrys than the others, though) with the Infantrymen and two types of machines. It turned out to be an oddly short segment of cave which was rather winding and more narrow than previous portions of the cave, taking only about an hour to cross.

The next region of the cave was wet and watery with several patches of deep water they couldn't see the bottom of even though the water was clear, including a long line of water they had to swim across just to proceed. Rather than swimming, though, Eden used alchemy to create a bridge so they could cross, then dismantled it after they were all safely on the other side. Libby risked jumping into the water to examine the spikes Eden left behind, then caught up to them as the first thing they met were a few of a strange-as-Hell monster Genesis later told them was likely a Lature Dano.

It was similar to a very skinny, black dog in body shape, but its neck and head were red with a more demon-ish appearance (including large, curved 'tusks'), and its tongue and tail were like decorative ribbons—very _sharp_ ones. The monsters also all wore a device which they could only call a 'dog's robe' in purple for the base of the robe with a neck-line in black, red, and gold to which a green, decorated cloth had been attached. The whole thing was rather decorative and detailed—and didn't come off their bodies, meaning it was...part of their fur? They had a headdress which was similarly attached to their bodies in red and gold with white, furry edging and a 'slot' for a single, gray-black feather standing up proudly above their heads.

While they were strong opponents, so were the Cerberus, Explosives, and Three Stars they also met in the watery area of the cave. The Cerberus was a black Guard Hound type which was definitely more buff than any Blood Taste, and it had a glowing, purple tentacle. The Explosive was a relative of the Bomb, but with the middle of its body blackened in the format a Destroyer's face was, and the Three Stars were literal clusters of Movers which traveled in threes by necessity, making them glowing red balls with two tiny, black eyes. Diatrymas, Sahagins, and Tonberrys were still there, fewer of them than in most other cave sections, and only the more powerful variants of the Sahagins (Prince, King, and Emperor) and Tonberrys (King and Holy).

The most annoying thing about the fountain-like room of pools of water they were in wasn't the monsters or the water, it was how slick the water had made the stones beneath their feet, causing them to slip, or even to fall, fairly frequently. Battle was made difficult as well—and why in the world was a fire-based monster in the watery room? On their trek through the water, Genesis slipped and kicked something, then blinked and reached down to pick up the thing he'd kicked, finding a purple Materia which he passed to Eden. It was a Materia called Mega-All. Finding it went a long way towards fixing the bad feelings brought on by their many slips and falls.

At the bottom of that room, they stepped into a large chamber where grass and some flowers were growing, but no monsters were nearby, so they had their lunch while they could—it was past noon due to how hard the previous segment of the cave had been to traverse. While there, Eden passed some of his gathered Materia to Genesis to keep for him until they got back to Midgar, because his pockets were already over-full with the new ones they'd gathered.

Once they'd eaten, they moved forward cautiously into the room—only to find some monsters materializing out of the shadows right in front of them. Those monsters were Funny Faces, but with purple heads and black 'skirts'—and they were equally as problematic as Funny Faces, if not moreso. Genesis just sighed and admitted 'Shadow Monks' had on occasion threatened places on the surface, but it was very rare.

They also met Abyss Worms (which also rarely threatened the surface), Great Malboros, Jabberwocks, and Belials. The last three were near-blanks in their databases, though a Great Malboro was larger than a Malboro and had some brown streaks in it, the Jabberwock was very similar to a Behemoth in black with a dark red mane, and the Belial was like a Gargoyle, but with a mostly black body and red wings. All of them were also much more powerful than their normal cousins on the surface. The last two also turned out to be some of the most difficult opponents, ones they found closer to the bottom of the 'stepped' room. From the top, it had looked like another cliff until they'd reached the end of said 'cliff', only to find it leading to platforms which progressively descended.

They reached the bottom of the grassy room and came to a nearly pitch-black cave, which they progressed cautiously into—only for the ground under them to transition into square, glowing panels of light similar to the stairs in the Forgotten Capital. Soon after all of the ground had become those glowing panels, light suddenly flared, then darkness fell, followed by bands of white-green light appearing in their vision. The flash had caused them all to halt, but when their vision had fully cleared—they all had to just stare.

Not far from them stood the other group, who were all staring at them in equal surprise. Eyes moved to a point to the side and between the two groups as light flashed there and Minerva appeared, just as they had seen her the previous time. Her expression seemed partly confused and partly amused, but she told them (again without opening her mouth), _:Welcome to my other core, wrought by necessity to heal the damage of the Calamity's arrival here. Other than Materia and Enemy Skills, what need would you have for descending so deeply to the core of my land?:_

"You can thank Eden—your 'Ancient Sentinel'—for training me to be very thorough in exploration," Rufus replied in amusement. "Their group actually _was trying_ to reach your core to speak with you, though. We didn't expect to both appear here at about the same time."

 _:I see,:_ she replied, turning her gaze to the group of those with Cetra blood. _:And what was it you wished to speak with me about, my Children?:_

"The monsters and Infantrymen and machines going insane," Aeris said boldly. "If the Calamity can't influence them anymore, that would mean the machines and Infantrymen went insane because you caused them to, let alone the monsters. Why?"

Minerva gave a slight nod and answered, _:The Calamity from the Skies had embedded in nearly every monster in the world to attack, to attack and attack until nothing remained. Monsters on the surface were able to reach what they were directed to attack—humans—but those in these caverns could reach nothing from here. They resorted to attacking anything they could reach, other monsters, the humans coming from the far cave entrance, machines. In the chaos, the humans were also pressing deeper into these caves, much deeper than I felt comfortable having them. You are exceptions, not the rule. However, my intent had not been to cause the humans and their metal creations insanity, it had been to give them more means to defend themselves while causing them an instinct to leave this place._

 _:The result was—less than satisfactory and became equally as dangerous as the desire to attack the Calamity had embedded in the monsters. I had been pondering what would be required to undo what both she and I had inadvertently done here. Much of the pressure has been alleviated by your passage, the numbers greatly reduced, but the issue not yet solved. Were I at full capacity, it would be—easier to repair this damage, though still difficult, and as things are at this moment, I yet have to arrange the required delicate working which I feel has the greatest likelihood of success. Until I am able to implement it, I would prefer you not travel a second time through these caverns. As such, I shall transport you directly back to the heart of the Crater above-ground.:_

"I see," Aeris nodded slowly.

"Do you have any other messages for us while we're here, though?" Genesis asked eagerly. "Oh, and thank you for Cleanse, by the way! Eden is doing much better now." He was grinning like a loon.

The blond Turk rolled his eyes at Genesis, then looked at Minerva and gave her a smile as he said, "Yes, thank you for that. I feel like myself again."

She inclined her head and said, _:That is good to know.:_ She then paused for a moment before saying, _:I am grateful to you, all of you, for everything you have done. I have a request of you, my Beloved Child and your chosen partner, which I shall discuss further with you later. For all other messages—they have all been given. Unless you have other questions or requests of me, this ends our time together here.:_ No one said anything as most of them traded confused looks, so she said, _:In future, please visit me only in the safer cavern where the core of Omega is, and do not share any of these three entrances to my core with others without my permission.:_

"Why not?" Roy asked with a suspicious frown.

Her gaze turned to him evenly as she replied, _:To explain in words familiar to you, your heart beats within your chest and gives you life, yes?:_ The man frowned in puzzlement that time as he nodded. _:Is it your habit to tear apart your ribs and lungs to bare your physical heart to others, or do you bear only your emotions?:_

Roy's jaw dropped open and he said quietly, "This space is for you what our physical heart is to us, and it's dangerous for other objects to enter it, not because you have something to hide, but because your life is at risk by doing it." She inclined her head, and he gave her a look of regret. "I am so sorry for believing the worst of you."

 _:You have lived previously on a world with very little awareness of the Planet's living and sentient form. Those beings of perhaps similar ability you have previously encountered have been either false or cruel. I have been aware of that fact since my Ancient Sentinel's arrival here, and I do not regret your presence. Your habit of suspicion has many benefits elsewhere, and in the meantime, until you learn that I am not like the previous beings you knew, I shall simply prove my intent to you.:_ She then gave him a small smile and added, _:You are forgiven for your fears and suspicion.:_

He stared at her for a moment, then nodded and softly replied, "Thank you."

She inclined her head again, then looked to the others, who all had thoughtful expressions on their faces. _:Was that all? Are you prepared to return to the Crater now?:_ Again, looks were traded, then the others began nodding and giving affirmatives. Once everyone had given agreement, she told them, _:Very well. Rest well this night, and travel safely upon the morrow. There are dangers beyond monsters in these northern lands.:_

The group blinked, but then they found themselves standing back in the Mako-icy 'room' where the frozen Weapons were. Their supplies were there and unharmed, and they all had to trade shocked expressions.

"Well, I suppose Genesis and I can spend most of the evening working on those arrays until it's time to sleep," Eden commented. The others chuckled, but Genesis immediately moved over to the place they'd sat to work on it before. Eden and Libby quickly joined him.

SH

Morning came all too soon, even though they got a decent rest the night before. No one was especially looking forward to the trip back to Icicle Inn—then again, they would have to spend nearly three days walking through inhospitable land surrounded by equally inhospitable mountains. Getting down had been easy, but getting back to the lift would be as much of a trial as climbing the Cliff had been. During the first day, they managed to get back to the bottom of Gaia's Cliff (much to Holzoff's shock) and crossed the Great Glacier back to where the mountains drew close to their path again. They stopped in caves there for the night, then set out in the morning.

The second day was similar, but they were forced to stop much earlier as winds rose to a near-blizzard state, temporary or otherwise. Again, Genesis and Eden were working on the arrays for Felicia, managing to finish sorting, moving, and fixing what they could, as well as working out their process for how they were going to remove the last one from her. They had about half the day and nothing much else to do, after all, and they would be very relieved to be able to fix the young woman's problem—they knew she would be relieved as well. The one issue was going to be the number of people knowledgeable with the arrays they would need to go through the whole process, as by their calculations, they'd need five, though they had one boon—with Eden, Genesis, and Roy (he volunteered after hearing them talking), they still had Al, Izumi, and Mei to ask.

By morning, the snow and wind had stopped, so they set out again. Libby and Carbuncle were riding on Nanaki's back, Stray Hope was riding on Deneh's, and Cait Sith had gotten comfortable on Dark Nation's back. They were to the back of the group with only Kamil and Kunzel behind them for scouting, and Zack and Judet were leading the way while Genesis, Roy, Eden, and Freyra were gathered closely around Rufus in the middle of the group. It was as they were passing through the trails leading up the slopes along the mountains shortly before noon that they realized they were in trouble.

Rumbling began above them, making them look up—to see a wall of heavy snow barreling down the mountainside at them. They froze for a moment until Kamil and Judet both yelled, "Into the caves!" Everyone moved to follow them—

Two dark shapes dropped out of the sky, both looking like black winged, feathered humans wearing dark gray, one seizing Eden and the other blocking the path of the rest of the group to the caves. Eden struggled to get free of the one carrying him, and he nearly succeeded as the Raven (he was sure it was the new breed of them Fuhito had been trying to produce) dropped him so he was dangling from the Raven's hand by one wrist. Then he froze as he realized he was above the moving sheet of snow and ice, knowing falling into that would leave him as good as dead. A look around showed him where the bottom edge of the avalanche was hitting the ground at the base of the mountain where his friends were.

An expression of pain crossed his face, but some sort of light sparked from where the snow hit, making him blink and frown.

He had no more time to think on it as the Raven pulled him up into his arms and put a blade to his throat as he said in an eerie, gravelly voice, "Behave or I'll be taking your corpse back to Fuhito."

"How long is this going to take, because I have better things to do with my time?" Eden scowled at the man—the chimera. There was no mistaking the mix of human and bird in the one being, and if they were even a fraction of the original Ravens' durability, they would be deadly opponents.

"We'll arrive at the Lab in a few minutes. The rest is up to him," the Raven replied.

They were passing quickly over the mountains, and Eden noted a trail wide enough for at least one truck to travel on which led in the direction they were going. It didn't look like it had been used recently, but it must have seen use at some point. As the Raven dove to land, his heart leaped into his throat, especially when he looked down and just saw a blank patch of snow at what appeared to be their landing spot by their trajectory. They were going too fast and would crash, though—he was sure of it!

A few moments later, something happened as they hit the snow—

And his vision went dark.

SH

The moment the avalanche came down on them was also the moment all of them began working on instinct. Aeris and Carbuncle both cast shielding, Aeris by using Great Gospel and Carbuncle in the usual way of its protective nature. Others did similar things, but Genesis called on Phoenix to warm them and melt the snow immediately around them, then called for Atomos to devour the snow. There were a few minutes of them being covered in snow with only protective bubbles around them keeping it from crushing them, but then it all got dragged away by a massive head which produced a gravity force strong enough to drag virtually the entire avalanche into its giant mouth.

It was both a disgusting and oddly disturbing sight, but the others were all thankful for its ability to get rid of the snow. When it was done, it vanished.

"Where's Eden?" Freyra asked tensely.

Genesis saw a flash of black where he remembered the Raven having landed before the avalanche came down, so glared and marched over to it, where he found the Raven laying face-down in what was left of the snow. It began to stir, so he drew his sword and stabbed it through the chest, causing it to jolt and tip its head to look at him—and smirk.

"Tell me where Eden is—where Fuhito's lab is—and I'll make your death quick and simple. Otherwise, well—I'm in a bad mood, and if I have to go searching for him myself, I'm going to make you suffer a lot of pain I'm sure you haven't yet felt," the furious SOLDIER told the Raven stuck to his blade. To emphasize the point, he gave his sword blade a twist in the Raven's chest. The result was a sharp intake of breath.

"You're welcome to go to your death, Shin-Ra scum," the Raven replied in a distorted, gravelly voice. "There's a known trail up the mountain to areas where the Icicle Inn villagers used to get wood. It runs deeper than that into the mountain passes. You'll find the lab—and Fuhito—at the end of it." His smirk was wild and three quarters insane. "Go ahead and try to kill me, foolish SOLDIER!"

"I know the path he means," Judet said with a glare. "We can find a route to it not far from here, but it'll take us hours to get to the end of the path. I'll call to Quis and get him to send us support while we go up there. What does he mean, 'try to kill him'? You seem to be doing a pretty good job."

The Raven cackled in amusement as Genesis' eyes narrowed in fury, then he lifted his other hand and recalled the arrays which he had used on Nero the Sable. They lit around his wrist, and the Raven's eyes widened as his body dissolved into pyreflies. When he looked up, the others were staring at him in shock, and some degree of horror.

"Where are we going, Judet?" he asked her, still facing the mountains.

"This way," she replied, walking past him with jerky motions most likely indicating fear as she pulled out her PHS to call Quis.

SH

Three days on the road to a destination deliberately being kept from the captives. Izumi had been rather annoyed, and Naomi and Ken had been oddly calm and content to just lean against her sides when they weren't playing clapping (or other) games together. On the way to their destination, other captives had spent a lot of time watching them sadly, thinking they really had no idea what their fates would be. Now, they were in rooms—all of them in separate rooms—with solid doors and walls. Izumi rapped on one with her knuckles, finding it rather solid. She'd have trouble breaking them, so she'd have to settle for breaking the door by snapping its hinges.

It didn't feel right being separated from her two children, but it was highly likely that the Ravens had no real interest in anyone they put in the rooms, so unless Fuhito put in an appearance, they should be safe. It looked like the Turks would have their destination now, though, so it would all be dealt with soon, and she'd be able to get back to her life. She looked forward to that time.

 **Notes:**

Continued from the A/N at the start of the chapter: I didn't take all of the enemies which appeared in that 'final' Mission line in Crisis Core (we can immediately negate Wutain Troops and any G—or Genesis clone—types for obvious reasons), usually picking only one, normally the strongest, variant of any kind of monster (otherwise, there's just too damned many of them). Most of the machines are non-entities as well because this is 6-7 years before Zack would have gone into most of the levels of that cave, so they haven't been created yet. There's also much, much less Shinra presence there, and they haven't gotten nearly to the bottom.


	73. 68-Host and Soul

**A/N:** For anyone planning to jump from SH to FoWD, this is the last 'relevant' chapter—anything after this literally has no application to FoWD. From here, imagine there were no other Amestrians (so everything turned out worse), Ed experienced a pulling, blackout-inducing sensation at the end of his scene, right before the final scene starts, and the final scene went in the President's favor (the world was destroyed). Then FoWD will largely make sense.

Host and Soul

Eden woke with a small groan as he gave his head a shake and struggled to open his eyes. He had no idea where he was, only that it was warm enough for him to be comfortable in just his suit, and apparently, he had weights around his wrists and ankles. When his eyes finally opened, it was to see a large, plain room which was only moderately lit by a single light in the middle of it—and there were bars separating the rear of the room from the door side, as well as another set of bars dividing the rear portion of the room in two. He was in the left of the two cages, and—Felicia was in the other!

Fuhito was going to try to Summon Zirconaide at Felicia's expense!

The woman, who had been sitting with her back against the wall and shackles with chains around her wrists and ankles, lifted her head to look at him. She looked just plain exhausted, but she managed to give him a ghost of a smile as she commented, "So you've finally woken up."

"What knocked me out?" he asked.

Felicia shook her head. "I don't know. You were out cold when he brought you in here. Also, he has the four shards of Zirconaide, and is just preparing what he needs to Summon it. He also took all our weapons, armor, and Materia. This is pretty much the worst case scenario."

Making a face, Eden sat up and began taking stock of his own situation. He had the same kinds of shackles as Felicia did, and while they allowed some movement, they didn't allow a lot of it. Fuhito's major flaw, one Eden could heavily exploit, was in the fact that Fuhito didn't know Eden could freely use alchemy as long as there was no Reactor and he could put his hands together. The shackles were more than loose enough to let him clap, and touching the floor was easy, too. Actually, touching anything in the room was easy.

"It could be worse, _believe me_ ," the blond Turk told her dryly. "I'm more worried about the others, because the Ravens brought an avalanche down on them in order to snatch me."

Her eyes widened as she paled. "An avalanche? In this climate, that's as good as a death sentence!"

"...I don't know, but yeah, usually it would be. I won't write them off yet, but they're honestly in worse shape than we are, either way. The irony of your former group name and what he just did isn't lost on me, either," Eden told her, looking down at his hands.

After a pause, the woman sighed faintly. "Worse and worse. The Ravens, though...I know what you mean about chimeras now."

"Chimeras?" a new, familiar—and unwelcome—voice asked in cold curiosity. Both looked up to see Fuhito just stepping into the room. He finished entering and shut the door behind himself as he moved over to stand at the bars to Eden's cage. "I'm aware you have detailed knowledge of the arrays and how to use them, but I don't know the term 'chimeras'."

"The Ravens are a mix of an animal or a monster and a human. Mixing two things like that together using the arrays is called a chimera," Eden told him, willing to answer because the man was already doing it, even if he didn't have a name for it.

"I see," Fuhito blinked, then tipped his head to the side. "Your people—your village—they frequently do such things for you to be so aware of it."

"Not true," the blond Turk replied, pain flashing across his face as he remembered Nina. "There were people who did, a small number of them, and they were killed for the crime they committed by doing it. One of them was a man who did it to his wife and daughter, a daughter who once called me 'big brother', until she was made into _that thing_ , and was in such a state of agony that she just sat there and let a man kill her. The thing you don't seem to get is that we can 'be aware of things' without actively _doing them_."

The Wutain's lips curled in a faint, smirking smile. "That's such a waste. If you had become angry, I'd have thought you were lying to me, though. It's a pity you didn't do more to develop those things. Well, I'm not here for that at the moment. I want to know how best to lay out the array to summon Zirconaide—thank you for bringing all the shards right to me, by the way—first and foremost. You will tell me, won't you, Turk?"

"Why in the world would I want to help you kill Felicia faster?" Eden asked in reply with a glare.

The smirk on Fuhito's face was frightening in that moment as he said, "Because you won't like the result of refusing."

"I don't like a lot of results of a lot of things," the Turk answered, feeling the hair on the back of his neck rise. "Doesn't mean I'm going to be so foolish as to destroy the world just to spare myself some pain in the moment."

Something black and shadowy rose off Fuhito's body and shot at Eden, spearing his right leg just above the knee—and making him cry out in agony as he felt both excruciating pain like burning and a sudden influx of knowledge in disjointed parts and with missing pieces. There were even tiny flashes of memories, small sparks so brief he almost missed them appearing, and he was never able to see one clearly enough for long enough to recognize anything.

 _What the Hell?_

Gritting his teeth, Eden forced the pain under control, searching his mind for what the shadow could be. It wasn't one of the beings like 'Father', but the black hands which came from the Gate couldn't literally attack like that. At the same time, it was something which accessed the Gate, or had at one time accessed it, because it was transmitting and imprinting familiar knowledge in his mind. He was stymied. Over and over again, he asked himself what it was, trying to ignore the pain—which was just going on and on and on...

A flash of a child's drawing (he thought it could have been of a family) appeared long enough for him to grasp the general 'what', and a thought suddenly came to him about the Gate, Truth, and the 'prices' people had to pay to accomplish something.

It was possible that something Truth or the Gate had claimed became imbued with knowledge from the Gate, then Fuhito somehow got his hands on it (maybe with help from those two Wutain criminals?), and it attached to his body. It could even be someone's soul who had been sacrificed, rather than something like the insides of Teacher's body or the Bastard's eyes. How many times had a soul or a piece of a soul been corrupted by being present at the Gate or used in a transmutation? It could even have been floating around in that space for millennia.

 _How long was the fucking pain going to go on?_

He'd have been in much worse shape if he wasn't so desensitized to pain from his auto-mail, but this was far from pleasant, and he was sure it was approaching ten minutes now, with that thing still stuck in his leg.

Vaguely, he heard Felicia shout at Fuhito, "Stop it! That's enough, he won't be able to answer you—even if he _wanted_ to—if you cause too much pain!"

"He's nowhere near his threshold," Fuhito replied mildly.

Near it or not, the blond was still in a whole lot of pain, and he would have much preferred to end it.

Suddenly, an array flashed into his mind, and he knew it was a long shot—he'd have to be quick to finish the process—but he could probably get Fuhito to help him with a way to save Felicia. He wasn't entirely sure what the result would be, but they were running out of time, and Fuhito was reckless enough to push ahead without his help—before anyone got there to help them. If there was any chance he could get Fuhito to actually use the array which had just shown itself in his mind, it would begin the process of merging and summoning Zirconaide, and with his ability to get free, he'd be able to activate the other half needed to properly finish the process.

A long shot he had to take _now_ , not later.

But he also couldn't give in too soon, or Fuhito would be suspicious.

Gritting his teeth again, Eden felt his body start twitching, even against his will. That was a bad sign. He hissed, but gave no other sign of his pain, and vaguely heard the man give an impressed whistle. Well, Genesis and Shelke had gone through much worse pain than this with no end in sight and no actual way to stop it. He could wait, he _had_ to wait. Not too long, just for the right time. He wasn't sure why, but he was pretty sure Fuhito would have to stop sooner or later—he'd have to wait at least until then.

It was a long wait which felt a lot longer than it actually was. Of course, pain was known to distort one's perception of time, too.

Finally, it stopped and the shadowy thing was pulled from his leg, letting him roll onto his side as he breathed hard and trembled. A glance at Fuhito showed him panting, meaning the thing took quite a bit of energy for him to use, especially to maintain for an extended time. Felicia looked pale and drawn, her face stony but her eyes full of fear and pain for him.

"So, are you ready to talk?" Fuhito asked after a few minutes, when he'd recovered from his own bout of exhaustion.

"Paper...and pen..." Eden muttered, deliberately allowing both Fuhito and Felicia to think he was only partially aware. His leg actually still hurt with a burning pain, but it was lessened. In a way, the burning was probably a good thing—it should have sealed the wound and prevented infection.

"Eden, no!" Felicia gasped softly.

Fuhito chuckled and left. Soon after, he returned, opened the cage door, put the pen in the blond's hand, and put the paper under that same hand. He also used one finger to hold the paper down as Eden drew out the array which had appeared in his mind, the one which would look like it was doing what Fuhito wanted, from the perspective of a novice. When Eden finished and went limp, the Wutain left the cage, relocked the door, and left room with a spring in his step.

Looking up slowly, he saw the woman looking down, sorrow shadowing her gaze and resignation emanating from her.

"Felicia," he said softly. She gave her head a shake, so he said, "I'm not so foolish I'd really give him the way to kill you faster, you know." He then drew in a sharp breath as his wound gave a sharp, painful pull. "Damn, that thing hurts, though..."

Her gaze lifted to his as she asked in confusion, "But that array...?"

"It will look to a novice like it's doing what he wants it to. It isn't. I can activate the other half. Without the other half, it'll rebound on him before it can complete its process," Eden explained. "I'm not entirely sure what a rebound will do to you, but it shouldn't kill or maim you. Right now, I'm going for a long shot, and I'm not completely certain what the final result will be, but I'm sure it won't include your death because that's a set of arrays meant for merging and restoration—to repair what was broken without harm to anything else. It takes a lot of elements Genesis and I have been working on to fix your issue, so it has a very good chance of working beneficially."

Felicia was silent for a minute before she asked, "Does that mean you never actually lost your mental faculties from the pain—you just tricked him into thinking you had?"

"Yeah," he agreed in mild amusement, closing his eyes to rest while they waited for Fuhito to get back.

"...How? The kind of pain he was causing you..."

"I have a high pain threshold thanks to my auto-mail. That actually began to approach the limit of what the outfitting caused me, only because it went on so long, not because it was so painful in itself. Don't worry so much about me, or about yourself. I'm not just going to sacrifice you, or anyone, if I can help it. He just needed to believe he'd gotten to me so he'd use the array I gave him without questioning it."

Her eyes closed as she ducked her head and quietly told him, "I hope it won't take you too long to recover from that wound, though. Your only benefit is that it isn't bleeding. I could smell hints of burning flesh, like cauterizing."

"Yeah, felt like that, too. By the way—you really look tired."

"He forced me to fight his Ravens until I was too exhausted to fight him. He's been keeping me awake since then—probably almost three days between then, on the way here and since I've been here."

"Hmmm. That's no good. Could you sleep now?"

"Maybe, but with what he's preparing to do, I'm not sure I want to try."

There was a moment of silence, then Eden asked with a faint grin, "Is it still April first?"

"Yes," she replied, sounding puzzled.

"Back home, April first was also known as 'April Fool's Day'. Looks like the joke's going to be on him. (1) And Felicia, sleeping is probably your best option so he thinks you've completely given up."

The woman gave a faint chuckle, then a small sigh as she muttered, "I _really am_ tired..." Silence fell, and shortly after, her breathing evened out in sleep.

Fuhito returned shortly after that, gave a snort at what he thought were his two sleeping captives, and began working on laying out the array Eden had given him. It took him almost an hour to finish, then he left again, only to return shortly thereafter. He moved Felicia soon after his second return, and Eden stirred and sat up to watch Fuhito lay her in the middle of the array, his expression completely blank. Fuhito then made the mistake of putting his back to Eden as he crouched to activate the array, which had the four shards of Zirconaide clustered around the woman's body.

With Fuhito's back turned, Eden had the time to alchemically sever all four chains binding him and was already at the cage bars, dissolving two of them so he could slip out of the cage, as the man activated the array. His leg hurt like Hell, but he put that out of his mind so he could jump into the middle of the active array with Felicia (who was stirring at the energy flow), put his hands together, and put them down on her. He vaguely saw Fuhito gasp in shock, but as soon as he activated the second half of the array, the room (their vision, rather) turned white.

Felicia screamed once, more like a sound of shock than of pain, then seemed to dissolve out from under his hands, and the sound of bending, tearing, and snapping metal and rock came to him. The light began to clear as cold dropped around him, and he quickly looked up—to see a being which resembled Felicia, and not. Her hair had flared out into curved, wing-like forms with three distinct 'feathers', growing much longer than it had been, there were some streaks of brown and silver running over her skin, and she had gained bladed spikes in several places on her body. Two protruded from her shoulder blades, pointed downward, six which also pointed downward had formed a skirt of blades around her legs, anchored to a brown, belt-like device at her waist, and two more covered her hands, similar to lances. Her eyes also glowed sliver.

Despite those changes to her, she was still obviously Felicia, and was even about the same size she had always been, with the same clothes she had been wearing, and even the same coloring for the most part. She blinked, then looked down at herself, then at Eden—and finally, at Fuhito.

"What just happened?" the Wutain gasped, then gave his head a shake as he laughed. "Well, what are you waiting for, Zirconaide? Go destroy the world, as you've been wanting to for so long!"

" _I do not serve you,_ " the being replied, its voice similar to those of the Summons. Her gaze moved back to Eden as she added, " _You have upheld your promise, Ancient Sentinel. This was—an unexpected method for such to occur, yet it has succeeded in both tasks you wished to accomplish—to restore me and to save me. This I say because I am both Zirconaide and the woman Felicia, much as Chaos is also his host._ " There was a pause and a nod. " _Find shelter, Ancient Sentinel, before the cold becomes harmful to you. I have yet a task to fulfill._ "

A moment later, there was a bright flash of light, then he somehow felt like he was completely alone. When his eyes cleared, Felicia was gone—and so was Fuhito, the only evidence that he had ever been there being the pyreflies floating around and the odd, shadow substance left behind. At the shadow's feet were his Materia, bracers, and weapons—Fuhito had apparently had them on him. He stared at the shadow for several long moments, still trying to work out what it _was_ , but then he reached out to brush his fingers over it cautiously.

What he felt was a soul which was shattered and in agony, a soul which reminded him of a child—a child like Nina.

Tears filled Eden's eyes as he whispered to the shadowed soul, "I can only save you by dissolving you."

He felt a response of pleading for an ending, a feeling so abstract that the only reason he knew it for what it was—was because he now realized there were limits people had to what they could take, and that they had a right to request death. Because Zirconaide/Felicia had left the shadow unharmed, he knew that soul wasn't evil, so it fell to him to repair the damage it had suffered. He thought first of using it as a catalyst to repair his leg, then gave his head a shake and collected his gear and Materia to return them to his person while he thought of another way to help it. One of the Materia was Cleanse, causing him to recall the arrays for Purify which Genesis had used on him.

It could work, couldn't it?

He held his hand forward as he imprinted the arrays in his mind which activated Purify, and they formed around his wrist as he sent the emotionally cleansing energy into the shadowed soul. From within it, light sparked and began to reach out tendrils to the outer edges of the soul, until the entire dark essence had turned to light. The cast ended, so Eden lowered his hand and watched as the soul began breaking apart into pyreflies, released back to Minerva and the Lifestream, where it would be able to finish healing. He wasn't aware of the tears running down his cheeks.

SH

In Midgar, Tseng stood facing the President from across his desk as the man studied him, one finger tapping on the arm of his chair. Since the Turk had entered the room and asked what he could do for the man, President Shinra had been just looking at him like that. It was eerie on more than one level, but he showed nothing to the older man, as showing his discomfort would give the man too much control of the situation. He quickly ran through a check-list of all the things they had done or were doing, knowing by doing so that there were at least two things the President could have found out about, but that things were ultimately in their (the Turks' and SOLDIERs') favor.

"Heidegger and Hojo both betrayed me, and they had both been my strongest supporters," the President commented suddenly.

"Yes, Sir," Tseng agreed. "With all due respect, however, Heidegger was heavily influenced by mind-altering drugs and Hojo's sanity has been suspect since Jenova was found."

"Of course," the blond man agreed. "Scarlet, also a strong supporter of mine, was murdered by a man your Turks had been sent to Corel to find."

"Fuhito has proven far more problematic than we anticipated, and even escaped from Crescent Unit—they don't let go of their prey easily," the Wutain Turk filled in. "We have put into place a sting to deal with him."

The President snorted at the words. "Hojo's monsters killed Hollander and Palmer, the last of my supporters."

"We had absolutely no control over them, though—as I noted in my report—Hojo deliberately released them in the Labs with the intent to kill everyone there."

"Tseng, of the original company executives, who is left?"

"...Only Reeve Tuesti."

"Only. Only a man who wants nothing more than to develop everything which has no use or value. He doesn't support me, he'll support anyone who lets him tinker, and him giving that toy cat of his to Rufus tells me he's more likely to support my son than me, even while _I'm_ still in power."

"I wouldn't know, but my impression of him is only that he doesn't like to create arguments for any reason."

"That's true. However, Rufus is putting a huge amount of funds into the Slums lately. I know very well you know he's doing it. One of the things he's funding is a factory run by Gaia's Refuge, who are most closely attached to him, Reeve, you, and Lazard, and they're producing an independent power supply."

"While I'm aware of Rufus funding them and the factory, I don't know what the factory produces. Perhaps Eden knows?"

The President suddenly surged to his feet and slammed his hands down on the desk as he yelled, "Damned it, Tseng, why is the entire Hades-forsaken world acting against me? Why are you all unanimously trying to take my power away from me?"

Tseng blinked, but the man yanked open a drawer and pulled out a remote with only three buttons on it, the most prominent a large, red one in the middle.

He pushed the button before Tseng could move, then smirked and said, "Fine, if you want to take the world away from me, you can have it—as you burn in Ifrit's Hellfire!"

The Wutain blinked, then blinked again as both waited...and waited...and waited.

"What in Hellfire?" the President frowned in confusion, looking down at the device with the red button. He pushed it again several times and still got no result.

"Sir, you can stop that now," Tseng said in an almost tired voice. "It's unfortunate for you that we knew about your explosives and have deactivated them."

The President stared in shock, then snarled and jumped at the Wutain. As he did, the blue illusion stone told the Wutain very strongly to _get back_ , so he threw himself backwards. At the same moment, the building shook and a bolt of light shot through the room, only just missing him on its passage. The President wasn't so lucky, and was quickly reduced to Pyreflies. He had to stare in the direction the light had come from, seeing many more bolts of light shooting into various parts of Midgar, but all he could really see was a dark spot in the distance. It didn't have the same aura as Vant/Chaos, but it seemed to be no less deadly.

After a few minutes, the dark shape left, heading south towards Junon—and it was only then when he realized the bolts of light hadn't damaged the building.

What in the world _was_ that thing?


	74. 69-Homeward-Bound

Homeward-Bound

A sharp pain from his wound brought Eden back to reality, and he immediately shivered in the cold—the merging of the two beings had broken open the ceiling, leaving it open to the air. Turning, he went to the door, then stopped and put his hands together, then on the floor so he could turn the array into broken gibberish. That done, he left the room and found the hall much warmer, so closed the door behind him to keep the cold in the room.

"Eden!" a voice called in surprise from nearby. He turned to look, and saw Izumi leading several other people—her two kids and others ranging in age from children to middle-aged adults—around a corner. "What happened?"

He shook his head. "Let's just say Fuhito pissed off a very powerful Summon. And Felicia and the Summon are now the same person."

She eyed him for a long moment, then made her way over to him as she asked, "So where is Felicia, and why are you crying?"

The blond Turk looked away as he said, "Felicia still had things to take care of, and..." He reached up to touch his face, finding there were indeed tears there. "I guess this would be because of the child's soul Fuhito had attached to him, a soul I just released from its suffering."

Izumi reached out to grasp his shoulder as she said, "Sometimes, there _really is_ no other option. Even _I_ know that. How did you—release the soul?" In response, Eden handed her the Cleanse Materia. She assessed it, then handed it back and said, "That was probably the best option, even if it means your leg doesn't get fixed right away. You know our Flower Girl will fix it."

"...Assuming she's still alive after Fuhito dumped an avalanche on them," Ed sighed. Her eyes widened, but he gave a small smile and said, "Thanks, though. If—if she can't, probably there are others who will, like Winry or Al. At least he had the sense to cauterize the damned thing so I wouldn't bleed out." He paused, then asked, "I'm guessing these are the people the human traffickers have been handing to Fuhito?"

"They are. Have you got your PHS?" she asked, hand still on his shoulder.

"No. We'll have to search for it," Eden replied, wiping his face fully and shaking off the sorrow which approached depression. He already knew there was more to be done right then, and he'd have to wait for later to deal with what had happened. "I would guess it's not too far away, but I'm not sure about how big this place is. And then, there's the Ravens."

"A white light destroyed them all, reduced them to pyreflies," Izumi informed him. "We pretty much have the run of this place now, and it's just—either finding winter gear or waiting for someone to retrieve us. I'm not one to sit around doing nothing, so exploring is a good option."

The blond had to smile at that, but he gave a nod and agreed, "Let's get to it, then."

The whole group headed further down the hall to search more of the rooms, many of them notably awkward around the Turk—until they began to realize he wasn't all that different from them.

SH

Felicia felt—strange. She felt like herself, but not like herself at the same time. Her own reasoning was that she had become a 'part' of a whole unit which had very specific goals, but a capacity for assessing them which was flawed, and she was filling the gap in assessment. As she assessed Zirconaide's goals and thoughts, things she was now privy to by their merging, she realized it wasn't that she disagreed with them, it was that she disagreed with their method and 'absolute' solution. The being effectively had a mind still primitive enough for its way of assessing things to be 'one person in this group did wrong, so punish them all.' _Her_ mind could assess that not everyone in a group was responsible for what one, or some, did, so she could temper its destructive targeting.

It was unfortunate that many humans also had the kind of primitive mind which said, 'one of them did something, so punish/kill them all.' She had never been able to work out why such was the case, though by her experiences, the trend seemed to be stronger in men than in women, and meeting exemplary men who saw individuals rather than a whole group was something she enjoyed. Zirconaide was intrinsically male, but Minerva even followed a different trend from the Maintenance Weapon if what she had heard about the sentience was correct, and Minerva was intrinsically female. Then there was Jenova, who was also intrinsically female, but apparently more like Zirconaide.

Why was she even thinking about any of that as she made her way around the world in the air to destroy the people who were beyond salvation as living humans?

 _:You are assessing it for the purpose of gleaning a comprehension of why you now exist, Earthen Champion,:_ a female voice spoke suddenly into her mind, sounding amused. _:Your ability to target is singularly impressive. Then again, you have personally met many of those whom you know must pass on in order to save this world. Your selectiveness is a great boon to my survival, as close to the end as I am.:_

The woman paused for a moment in her flight over Cosmo Canyon to figure out how to reply, something Zirconaide helped her with. _:Earthen Champion? Who are you? And will I just—be stuck this way now?:_ Felicia was frightened of the answer, as a 'yes' would mean she could never return to her people, to everyone she cared about.

 _:I am Minerva.:_ Those three words caused her a peculiar sense of vertigo before she righted herself again with (a rather amused) Zirconaide's help. _:My Earthen Champion is how I recognize your energies. You have been such for some time, being so earthy in tones and as protective of my Beloved Child, and of me, as you are. By joining with Zirconaide, you and he are an effective Champion able to hold a position much as that of Chaos—not to destroy my world, but to save it, to assess and grant salvation to my little ones, all of those of this world._

 _:Your form is that of the woman you once were merged with Zirconaide, and while that merging is permanent, the form in itself is merely a transformation. You may return to your human form at your own will, or draw on Zirconaide's full form should the need arise. It is currently not necessary. Upon completion of your current task, you need only will yourself to return to your form as your human self. How did you come to have this form, Earthen Champion?:_

 _:You would have to ask Eden that question, because he's the one who did it,:_ Felicia replied in a dry tone, feeling both puzzled and thankful for the answer she had been given.

 _:...Eden...My Ancient Sentinel?:_ Minerva asked in mild puzzlement.

 _:I don't know what you call him,:_ the woman replied, flying north to Nibelheim from where she'd stopped over Cosmo Canyon. Her flight time was exponentially quicker than any other mode of travel, that was for certain.

 _:'Eden' is the Ancient Sentinel,:_ Zirconaide's voice put in, his essence separating enough from hers to join the discussion.

 _:Ah. He is quite the creative one, easily as much as my Judge. I believe he has done us all a great service in this act. We shall speak again, Earthen Champion. With this merging, you may communicate with me more easily than my own Children are able to, so our discussions shall be simple affairs,:_ Minerva told her with the sense of a smile and of warmth.

 _:Will I need to be in this merged form to speak with you?:_ Felicia asked, shooting some bolts of light into Nibelheim and moving on to the Rocket Town area.

 _:No. Your ability to speak with me stems from the fact that you and Zirconaide are now one and the same, not your current physical form.:_

 _:I see.:_

With a final sense of joy and welcoming, Minerva withdrew, and Felicia kept traveling as she removed those people who were just too destructive to be able to be saved. There were more of them than she had actively realized before she had begun eliminating them, sending them back to the Lifestream. She had begun near the Northern Crater, crossing over Icicle Inn and Bone Village, then reaching Midgar and Junon, and turning west to head to Costa del Sol. From there, she had gone through Corel, down to Gongaga, and made her way up to Nibelheim and the Rocket Town area. In all but Cosmo Canyon—which was notably a village of pacifists—she'd had to remove at least a couple people. The same was true in the Rocket Town area, though there were more in Wutai. If the Wutain Invasion had never happened, she probably would have needed to take out a lot more Wutains. From Wutai, she found herself heading to the Mideel and Banora area, then over to Fort Condor and the fields leading to Kalm.

It was once she'd done her duty in Kalm that she paused and thought about what to do next. An image of Eden's shocked expression came to mind, and she remembered he'd been a prisoner at Fuhito's lab as much as she had, so returned north to it. On the way, she looked for evidence of an avalanche, but wasn't finding one.

The question was resolved as she flew over a group of people—Rufus, Genesis, Aeris, and the rest of their companions—as a Lady Turk with long, silver-blond hair led them along a trail leading deeper into the mountains. Genesis looked furious, and most of the others had mixed expressions of wariness and anger or determination. She knew they were the ones who had been setting out from Midgar, other than Nanaki and Deneh, who would have joined them at some point during their trip.

She landed in front of them, causing them to halt with stunned stares, then asked for Zirconaide to help her figure out how to become human again. He replied, _:Would you like to die of hypothermia?:_

Looking up as Genesis approached, she said, "I would take a human form again, but apparently, I'm not going to survive the cold if I do."

"...What happened to you, Felicia?" Genesis asked her quietly.

She gave her head a shake. "Fuhito happened. Eden ended up merging me fully with Zirconaide rather than separating us like the plan had been. On the positive side, I don't seem to be in any danger of dying now, and Zirconaide now _can't_ go on a killing spree without having a very good reason and my agreement."

The red haired man gave her an amused look before he asked worriedly, "Eden?"

"At Fuhito's facility further up. How did you survive the avalanche?" Felicia had to ask.

"With shields from nearly all of us, and my Phoenix and a new Summon called Atomos. Atomos managed to clean up all the snow from the avalanche for us," he told her, stepping past her to keep walking.

Aeris approached her and offered a smile as she said, "Minerva seems really happy, and you're obviously still yourself. Genesis is just—really protective of Eden, I guess? They were just about ready to fix you, too, only for it to turn out like this. I don't think Genesis is ready to face all of this yet, and probably won't be until we have Eden back. I think he feels responsible for not being able to keep the Ravens from snatching him in the avalanche."

"Flower Girl, sometimes you talk too much," Genesis called back to her dryly over his shoulder.

"But you didn't try to stop me!" she relied cheerfully, grabbing Felicia's wrist (to avoid her bladed hand) and pulling her along after the man. The others fell in behind them, some adapting more quickly than others, though Zack and Roy were the first besides Genesis and Aeris to approach Felicia in her mixed form, followed by Kamil, Deneh, and Nanaki.

It still took them hours to get to the end of the trail, as they had been near the head of the path when she had found them. By the time they got to the facility, the sky had begun to darken and snow had begun to fall again, causing several sighs. Finding the facility, then a door into it, had been a shot in the dark at first, because all the normal entrances hadn't been used in so long they were covered in snow. The place also seemed to be devoid of life, and their only real reason for not getting overly jumpy was because Felicia told them she had returned all the Ravens to the Lifestream.

Once inside, they began searching the mostly metal facility—and quickly found a group of people in a room not too far from the door. Most were random people, but they recognized Eden, Izumi, and her two kids.

"Aunt Izumi?" Zack asked in dumbfounded shock, making her and the two kids turn to look at the new arrivals in surprise. Aeris gave a smile and wave.

"Zack!" both Naomi and Ken grinned getting up to run to him and hug him. He lifted them into his arms as Eden rose—and Aeris was right there, hugging the Turk tightly.

"We were worried about you!" she told him.

" _Me_? I was worried about _you_! How in the world did you survive the avalanche?" the blond Turk asked in shock.

She pushed back from him and smiled as she said, "Atomos proved to us why we don't summon him carelessly. Thank you for passing that one on to Genesis, by the way. He just swallowed the whole avalanche."

Everyone who had been in the room gaped at her at the words, but before anyone could respond, Genesis tapped Aeris' shoulder and said, "Mind if I greet him, too, Flower Girl?"

She looked over her shoulder with a grin, then moved over to Zack and the kids, who both willingly hugged her, too.

In the meantime, Genesis gave Eden a one-armed hug as he whispered, "We're going to have to talk about whatever you did to Felicia."

"So what is it you all seem to be waiting here for?" Rufus asked the group in confusion before Eden could answer the red haired SOLDIER.

"We have no supplies or winter gear. Exactly what are we supposed to do besides wait for someone to come get us?" Izumi asked irritably. "Of course, if it was just me, I'd go out there and wrestle a pack of Bandersnatches for their fur coats, but I can't do that for this many people and expect it to work."

"That will take awhile...I don't know if we have enough food for that long," Cissnei commented worriedly.

"You have food?" one of the other kids asked hopefully. More than one stomach rumbled at the question. There were some surprised looks and laughs, but the travelers pulled off their winter gear, dug out their food, and joined everyone for the meal, Felicia reverting to her human form before stepping into the room to join them. She also gave Eden a relieved hug at seeing him mostly well, and Aeris set a Regen-form heal on his leg wound so it could heal over time.

"About the time it will take for someone to reach us...?" Rufus asked as they ate.

"It's taken care of," Eden replied dryly. "Tseng told me when I finally found my PHS and called him that Reeve already told Cid to head this way to get us—both to get 'us' and to retrieve the last round of people the human traffickers snatched—so he should be here soon. Hello, Libby," he added to the small robot as she hopped up to grab his shoulder and stick her head over it. He gave her a pat, then looked at the others again and said, "So that's mostly what we're sitting around and waiting for."

"Can he still land in a blizzard?" Kamil asked with a small frown.

"Honestly? I think he's going to do it anyway, just because he's been told this is a 'rescue', not a normal trip, and from what I've seen, the Highwind can land almost anywhere as long as there's space," Eden replied, tone dry.

"Too true," several of the others who had been traveling with them put in, causing laughs.

Around the time they were finishing, they heard noise outside, prompting Genesis to go check the door. He returned to let them know the Highwind was there, so they should send the children onto the airship first. Everyone agreed, and a process was quickly arranged, as they needed to climb up to the bridge with the Highwind unable to land completely or open its rear cargo hatch—that would have made things much easier.

Not long after, they were on their way back to Midgar.

SH

Zack and Aeris were sitting on her bed on the Highwind, her head resting on his shoulder as the two spoke quietly about what events would be likely to greet them when they returned to Midgar, where repairs were still going on. However, energy flared around the young woman suddenly, and white light laced with green enveloped them before separating to give them a clear space to be with Minerva as she appeared to them. Aeris sat up straight and Zack blinked at her curiously as she eyed the pair evenly for a few long moments.

Finally, she gave a small smile and a nod. _:Beloved Child, you and the Dynamism are of a sort who may be able to assist me. Are you willing?:_ she asked.

"What do you need us to do, exactly?" Zack asked, head tipped to the side as he gazed at her curiously.

She gave him a small nod, then said, _:I have found the remains of Jeh-nova's sentience. Upon purifying those remains, I found myself to be left with a rather displeased, infant-like sentience both wounded and afraid. Rather than destroy her completely, I wish to give her one last opportunity to attempt restoration, but to do so, she must be reborn without her memory and amongst those she previously feared and despised. Her memory would later be returned to her. That left me with the question of who could possibly be her parents without treating her in a manner different from any other child of my world. Of all those in this world, I believe the two of you are the most unbiased and forgiving of her past actions.:_

"So you're saying you want us to have a baby, who will be the Calamity in human form, and to raise her?" Aeris asked in surprise. At the woman's nod, she questioned more softly, "And what will happen to her if she changes, and if she doesn't?"

 _:Should she show no changes, I will have no choice but to destroy her completely. This is the reason I wish to know if she is able to heal, as the destruction which would await her would otherwise be final. Should she change, learn, and grow, she will live out her life as one of my children on this world, and upon her death, I would welcome her to assist me in tending the world. I also very much hope you are willing, as otherwise, I would need much time to find another of the Cetra willing to join with one housing so many of her former cells before I could attempt this option. However, should you be unwilling, either of you, I shall wait until such time as another couple of similar status and ability appears,:_ Minerva explained.

Zack and Aeris traded nervous looks, but then Zack grinned and said, "There's been enough death lately, so this may really be the best way to start fixing things. I don't mind, whichever way you feel is best for yourself, Aeris. After all, as much as we're great right now—we don't know what the future will hold, so this may not even be the right time to agree to something like that."

Aeris looked between Minerva and Zack a few times before looking off into space. She then looked up at Minerva again and said, "I'm not going to be having a baby right now. Zack and I haven't been together long enough to know if this is permanent or not, so I'll offer this instead—if Zack and I are still together in a few years and we decide to have a baby, we'll take her. If Zack and I aren't together, if my new partner will be suitable, we can have another visit like this, but if not, you'll have to wait. It might still be me and in my lifetime, but it might be a different man. Right now, I hope it won't, but just to be sure. Will that be okay?"

Minerva gave her a small, fond smile. _:It will, my Beloved Child,:_ she agreed. _:Your thoughtfulness towards the situation is reassuring. We shall see how things proceed in the future, then. Rest well, both of you little children.:_ She then faded out as the white filled their vision again, and when they blinked, it cleared and they were back in Aeris' room.

"We'll name her Jenny!" Zack grinned as he suddenly hugged her.

Aeris gave a yelp and a laugh as she cried out, "Zack, stop that!" After a minute, he let her go, so she looked up at him and asked, "Jenny?"

"Yeah, short for Jenova. It's a normal enough name from Gongaga, though it would usually be short for Jennifer. She's still going to be that entity, so even if we let her know about her origins a little at a time, naming her Jenny will give her a tie to it which no one else will realize is one. Even if we and Jenny know her origins, I don't think it's a great idea to tell anyone else," the black haired man explained.

"You don't have any faith in even Angeal?" Aeris asked in surprise.

"It's not that I don't have faith in him—he's a great guy. It's just that so many people have so many bad experiences all tied to her in her previous incarnation, and the instinct to react to that will be strong. It's better for everyone if we just—leave the past there, rather than bringing it forward to be in everyone's faces all the time. Let them all heal and let go of it, then—I mean, if this works, eventually, she's going to be another Minerva, and maybe she'll be different enough, maybe even have a different name, so people will be able to accept her."

"...Zack, sometimes you truly amaze me with the leaps of logic you make. You even manage ones at Eden's level sometimes."

"Great. But does it make sense why I'd want to name her Jenny?"

"It does. If we're still together in a few years, our first-born daughter will be Jenny, then."

Zack grinned like a loon and hugged her again.


	75. 70-Transition Start

Transition Start

When Rufus stepped off the Highwind onto the landing pad on the Shinra building, followed by his traveling companions (including Nanaki and Deneh, as none of the insane scientists were there to possibly harm them anymore) and the people who had been in Fuhito's lab, he found all the department heads waiting for him. There were Reeve and Winry, Lazard and Tseng, Doctors Blythe and Kedran, the Weapons head and his second (wasn't that Biggs, who had been working with Reeve before?), and Shera Labradia. It was surprising to see her there, but he was aware of why she was—to keep the Space Department running until Cid could take over, at the very least—but what worried him far more was the fact that they were all there so late in the evening.

Reeve normally worked late, but the others, not so much. And more, the man would normally be at his desk so late, not waiting for him on the landing pad.

And where was his father?

"Is something wrong?" Rufus asked them as he neared the group with everyone else following him.

"We have—a situation," Tseng said as his eyes scanned the group quickly. He found Izumi and Eden both there safely, but blinked in surprise at Felicia.

"And what situation would that be?" the blond asked with a glare.

"Your father seems to have—vanished, leaving all operations of Shinra Company to you," Lazard filled in.

"...I beg your pardon?" Rufus asked in puzzlement, even as many of his companions traded puzzled looks.

"He vanished," Lazard repeated. "Tseng tells us a light shone through the room and he dissolved into pyreflies. While I'm aware of the situation and am inclined to believe his word, there is _no_ evidence of anything untoward or damaging, and Tseng was only with him for possibly twenty minutes before calling for us—not _nearly_ long enough for him to have killed the President and his body to have dissolved into pyreflies. Or for anyone _else_ to have done the task. Foul play is not an option, leaving either what Tseng saw or the former President tossing aside his position in society to run away. Take your pick, Mr. President, because it doesn't matter which one you would prefer, the result is the same. And we need you to officially sign the documents for the transfer of power and to get some initial orders from you."

Before Rufus could formulate an answer, a royally pissed off Cid came barreling off the Highwind as he yelled, "Shera, what in _Hades' name_ are ya doin' _here_?" He planted himself in front of her furiously.

She crossed her arms and said, "I'm keeping the Space Department running until you're done playing with your toys so you can take over. Unless you don't want it, of course, because I get to keep it if that's the case."

"I thought you were busy with the Rocket, woman!" Cid almost snarled.

Her hand lashed up and caught the shell of his ear, pinching it between her nails—and reducing Cid to little more than a chastised boy who repeatedly whined and yelped 'ow, ow, ow!' When she had his attention, she replied in an acidly sweet tone, "Cid, dear, the Rocket would have been _shelved_ without me, so kindly get your priorities straight. As for my place here—I've been finding I _like_ being the head of the Department, so if you'd rather tinker, that's fine by me. If not, I'm _still_ your second, and _I'm_ the one who knows how all this end of things works." She then released his ear, and he took a step back from her while rubbing it, expression a pained grimace.

"Hellfire, woman, that _hurt_ ," he whined.

"It was supposed to," she retorted evenly, and he sighed. It seemed command had given her much more of a backbone than she'd had...

A long silence fell, then Rufus faced Eden and asked, "So, how is your checklist for your 'save-the-world crusade' looking now, Eden?"

"Uh—Let's see...Fuhito took care of Scarlet for us. We took care of Deepground. Apparently both Hojo and Heidegger went off the deep end and had to be taken out. Wutai isn't Shinra's enemy anymore, so there's no more war deaths. Jenova is dealt with completely. Felicia has been saved. Zirconaide has been repaired. Fuhito has been taken out. The former President is no longer in power. White and Black have been returned to the Lifestream, and the scientists are just perfecting the process on other Materia themselves without a Mage. The Reactors have been streamlined and are taking a lot less Mako from the Lifestream. Midgar is being cleaned up. That leaves Gaia's Refuge's work on developing other energy sources, figuring out a way to make a better society where suffering is minimal at best, and the other messages Minerva left us with," Eden replied, ticking the points off on his fingers. "In the meantime, there will _always_ be more work to do."

Rufus gave a nod and a sigh. "So now the long, tedious part comes into play," he sighed. "Very well. Let's move this to my office with those in need of being present to sign the documents and start working through the first things which need to be done. I have some preliminary orders because things need to start changing."

"That will be fine," Tseng agreed. "You wouldn't happen to have someone suitable to become the Director of SOLDIER, though, would you?"

The blond man blinked, then sighed and lifted his shoulders in a shrug. "I have no idea, though someone like Kunzel may be a good option."

"Me?" the helmeted First asked in clear surprise, pointing at himself.

"Yes, you," Rufus replied in amusement. "Unless you, like all other SOLDIERs, have an obsession with being out on the battlefield?"

"Uh...I could give it a try for awhile..." Kunzel offered tentatively.

"Of course. Now, remove your helmet and join us," Rufus ordered.

After a long moment of hesitation, the First gave a small sigh and pulled his helmet, blinking in the light, then tucking the object under his arm. "So what now, then?" he asked as several people stared at him in surprise and possibly some awe.

"Now we go to my off—my _new_ office on floor seventy to get both my paperwork and yours done," Rufus stated. "Eden, Genesis, you'll also be joining us—as will Aeris, Felicia, Nanaki, and Deneh. Cid, if you're becoming the head of the Space Department, you'll also be joining us. The rest of you may do as you wish while you wait for us to finish."

He led the way to the office which had belonged to his father until earlier that day, where their first order of business was a good deal of paperwork which had taken them about an hour and a half to complete. Finally, Rufus was able to sit back and look around the room at the other department heads and those he'd asked to join them. That meant he had Lazard and Kunzel, as well as Reeve, Winry, Doctors Blythe and Kedran, the Weapons head, Biggs, Shera, and Cid, along with Eden, Genesis, Aeris, Felicia, Nanaki, and Deneh—but not Tseng. He'd have liked the Wutain Turk's input, but he'd be able to get that later, and he needed governing people right at that moment. In addition to them, they had Dark Nation, Stray Hope, Libby, Cait Sith, and Carbuncle, and Dark Nation and Carbuncle had immediately begun exploring the room.

"First—no new hires in any department of anyone under the age of sixteen. Those who are already registered employees may stay if they so wish, but—too many liberties with very young people have already been taken." He paused to look around at them as they blinked in surprise. "Now, for anything else to be functional, we need to make a transition to a government system rather than a company which dictates world affairs. I need Gaia's Refuge as a watchdog system for the moment, though there is a good chance even this 'government' will be temporary, just until we've gotten things on the right track for a change. We'll start working out the paperwork shortly. I have other things I'd like to address before then."

Everyone traded looks again, then nodded as they focused on him, so he turned to the two mountain lions. "You were told there were others of your kind and given their location. How soon do you intend to search for them?"

Deneh and Nanaki traded surprised looks, then the female told him, "I think it's best if we wait for a few years to re-introduce them to society, after they've had time to get used to us." Several others in the room gaped at them in shocked awe.

"That means you intend to become part of _our_ society, rather than staying hidden away in Cosmo Canyon," Rufus pointed out to her.

"We do," Nanaki agreed. "Hiding isn't always the best thing, and we've found many people rather genial towards us once they've gotten a little used to us. Now is likely the best chance we'll have to re-integrate. In a way, we would be the 'ambassadors' of our people."

"Fine. We'll work on that integration, and you can let us know when you want to go looking for them," Rufus agreed. His gaze moved to Felicia as he asked, "You know why I'd like you to take up a watchdog role, yes?"

"I do, but we're already stretched to our limit for what we can do," she replied evenly.

He gave his head a shake. "I'm wiping the slate clean. No one who had been a target of Shinra's currently is now. There will be no further 'acquisitions' of humans, either—only knowing and willing volunteers may be used in any experiments." His eyes moved to the two doctors as he said that, and both nodded approval.

The blond doctor, Blythe he assumed, said, "We shut down everything but a few things your father ordered us to maintain, our reason being the lack of hands in the department after the monster attack. We had no intention of reinstating the ones we let go, so we'll work to shut down the last few and move those people to more productive studies."

Rufus nodded to her and said, "Good, that will be one less issue. Our only difficulty will be with SOLDIER, as we still have need of their assistance in dealing with monsters."

"If I could make an offer...?" Aeris put in a little timidly, hand half-way raised.

His brow rose and he asked, "What are you being so timid about _now_ , Aeris?"

"Well, you're back home, in a formal setting, not out in the world like any other person, so..." she began uncertainly.

Rufus gave a small sigh and directed an irritated look at her. "I didn't ask you to come here to be decoration." Several others smiled or chuckled in amusement.

The brown haired teen blinked, then tipped her head to the side curiously for a moment before smiling. "Okay, then. I don't think it's a problem for you to use what you have of transfusions, since the danger of Jenova has been neutralized. But rather than trying to keep producing more SOLDIERs, why not start making a serious effort to train people in their _actual_ skills—to train them to be similar in skill to the Turks? The Turks are highly skilled on their own terms, but most of the reason most normal people _aren't_ is because they aren't being _taught_ to be. Or pushed to be. Wutai's over-all martial skill is proof of that. Then, only the very best of a bunch of very skilled people would become Turks or SOLDIERs, and you already know most Turks can hold their own against most enhanced SOLDIERs."

"The question is whether the Turks would do such a thing," Rufus sighed.

"There was one former Private who is now a First Lieutenant who is doing so," Lazard offered. "With your permission, he could become the Infantry's trainer, or even its head. Though, if your point is to improve the skills of the troops, First Lieutenant Roach would be the one to do so. I believe there are also a couple Turks who wouldn't mind doing such training with the Infantry."

"In that case, I'll have to begin making such arrangements. If it works, that will be fantastic," Rufus replied. "If it doesn't, we'll still need to have something to replace SOLDIER with, though only with willing subjects and hopefully not something terribly painful."

"There are volunteers for painful experiments, as well," Doctor Blythe put in dryly. "It depends on how badly they want the possibility of, say, transforming into a monster at will. We have five willing SOLDIERs who participated, and unlike in Deepground, not only was the process less painful on a willing subject, but it had a one hundred percent success rate, not a ten percent success rate."

Everyone stared at her in shock for a moment before Rufus cleared his throat. "As I said—if they know what they'll be in for and willingly participate, I won't stop them, but no more unwilling subjects. That in itself should help a great deal."

"Of course," the Doctor agreed.

"Then, with the danger of Shinra's targets or human acquisitions removed," Rufus began, facing Felicia again. "Chief Pereld, anyone who had been moved to your safe-town is free to do as they like, though they may simply wish to stay there and establish their own community. Your people would no longer be needed, other than as defense against monster attacks. With that large chunk of your previous work no longer an issue, would you say you have time to act as a watchdog unit?"

The woman hesitated for a minute, then slowly nodded and said, "Possibly. But there are a lot of logistical issues with that, not the least of which is my literal combat unit, headed by Shears."

Rufus frowned as Reeve and Winry traded looks, but before Rufus could reply, Reeve said, "Actually, it may not be as much of a logistical issue as you think, Felicia."

She turned to look at him in confusion as she asked, "What do you mean?"

With a small shake of his head, the man replied, "If your unit is meant to be an independent watchdog unit, it would be best for you, Shears, Winry, and I to find another time and place to discuss it. That way, there will be no Shinra influence besides what little Winry or I may provide." Winry nodded, so Felicia relented and gave agreement to that offer.

"Now, then, on to the next point," Rufus said. "We need to begin setting up a social network which will give people a hand up when they most need it. Everyone effectively already pays 'taxes' to Shinra, so once we transition to a government, I'll be able to begin allocating percentages to go specifically to the aforementioned support system and things like infrastructure."

"That's going to be a paperwork nightmare, and is mainly in my department's purview," Reeve pointed out. "Actually, most of your immediate changes outside the things the doctors are supposed to do and removing the targets from Shinra's hit list belongs largely to my department."

"Fine. Let's start the paperwork for Science and Public Security, since that will take less time and effort than all the Urban Development items," Rufus said. "Doctor Blythe, Director—er, Mr. Lazard, remain here to finish that up. The rest of you can go, and I'll call you back when I need you. Genesis, Eden, start checking in to all your independent projects, and Eden, prepare a report for me on what happened with Fuhito in the north."

"Who stays to guard you, then?" Eden asked curiously.

"Genesis, for the moment. I'll have you back in the morning," the older blond replied. "And since your brother has one of your projects, go see him, as well."

"Okay..." the blond Turk agreed with a startled blink, then walked out with the other department heads.

SH

Outside on the landing pad, Tseng looked around at those who were left—Kamil, Freyra, Cissnei, Roy, Judet, Izumi, Naomi, Ken, Zack, and those who had been taken to Fuhito's through the slave trade routes—then said, "We have rooms prepared for everyone, though all of those who had been captives at Fuhito's facility will be visiting the Hospital Wing, first. All the rest of you can go eat and rest until the day after tomorrow. Any questions?"

"Besides things you can't answer because they're apparently recent, no," Izumi replied. Everyone else gave general agreement to that.

"Fine. Does anyone know what happened to Eden's leg?" Tseng asked worriedly.

"Fuhito stabbed him with some sort of cauterizing agent," the woman answered again. "I don't know the details—you'd have to ask Eden or Felicia."

"I see. Did you prefer to head right home from the Hospital or stay here for the day?" the Wutain asked of her since she was being talkative.

After pausing for a moment, the woman asked, "Is Balto here?"

"And is Riha around?" Roy added quickly.

"Yes, and yes. Roy, Riha should be in the office. Should I call Balto and ask him to meet you at the Hospital Wing, Mrs. Curtis?" Tseng asked.

"The Hospital if he's available," she replied.

"He'll make time if he isn't," Zack grinned at her.

The door opened and Elena stepped onto the landing pad in the Turks' uniform and with her hair cut to the chin, more of it flipped to the right side of her head than to the left. (1) "Sir!" she called. "Emma said she needs you to check something and make a decision."

"Fine, but aren't you supposed to be in a sparring practice with Rude?" Tseng asked her dryly.

"Yeah. But Yufi and Mei appropriated him," the younger woman replied. "So I went back to the office and have been running messages since."

"I see. I'll be there soon," he answered. She gave a nod and turned back to the door—but Tseng stopped her with, "Oh, Riona—unless Rude actively told you to leave, in future, don't just decide to go."

She turned back to look at him with a nod and an agreeing, "Yes, Sir." She then left.

The other Turks present traded looks, then grinned, and Freyra said happily, "Let's go welcome her properly, then!"

"You bet!" Cissnei agreed cheerfully. Judet and Kamil just gave wryly amused looks, but followed the two younger women from the landing pad. With that, everyone else also broke up, most of them bound for the Hospital Wing.

Tseng gave a small sigh as he finished organizing everyone to head to the right places, knowing things were about to start changing. Rapidly.

SH

After being released from Rufus' office, everyone had work to do except Aeris, so her first duty was to finish healing Eden's leg. The pair (with Libby) then made their way to Al's, still trying to absorb the new situation Rufus had rather suddenly initiated. As such, they weren't especially thinking about it then, and Aeris was just happy to be able to walk around freely, as one of the first things being removed was the mission the Turks had to retrieve her.

When they got to Al's, Eden knocked on the door—only for young Evan to open it with a small, "Hello?" He then blinked and asked, "Eden?"

"Yeah," the Turk grinned. "Is Al here?"

"Yeah, come on in. Watch the kittens, though," Evan agreed, shoving the calico back from the door with his foot. Both kittens were much larger now.

The two stepped inside quickly and shut the door, only for Libby to say, "I'll play with the kittens." She then jumped down from Eden's shoulder and began chasing Esper, which led her to Kuro, and the three played quite happily together.

"Coooool," Evan grinned as he watched Libby and the kittens while heading further into the apartment. Eden and Aeris followed him, and found Al sitting at the coffee table with several papers out. "Eden and a woman I don't know are here," the boy said, making Al look up in surprise.

He then grinned and said, "Ed, you're back!" as he jumped up to hug his brother tightly. He then pulled back and looked at Aeris as he said, "Long time no see, Flower Girl. You went on a world tour?"

"We sure did," she grinned, looking around the plant-filled room. "You've really been going to town growing plants, haven't you?" It was even more full of different plants and plant varieties than it had been before, Eden realized.

"Private study," Al replied dryly. "I'm testing the growth time from seed to maturity based on plant genus and species. The differences aren't huge, but it definitely takes more energy and time to grow a larger plant than a smaller one, for example."

"Oh, wow! You need to share your results with me!" Aeris grinned happily.

"Later!" Eden cut in with a chuckle. "So, apparently Rufus is going to start changing things, including the youngest age you can start working at." Al blinked at him in mild surprise, so the blond Turk went on, "I don't think you've chosen anything yet, but you now don't have to worry about it until next year, anyway."

With a chuckle, Al commented, "I chose something I want to do, but I wasn't expecting to start doing it for anyone officially for a couple years yet."

"You chose something?" the older blond blinked in curiosity.

"Yeah, I'm going to be a teacher for Materia and alchemy," Al replied with a grin. "It surprised me to think I'd like teaching this much, but I've practically taken over teaching my Materia class because my method and knowledge works, and then there's Evan—and you were right when you said it was better me than Teacher. He'd have had a panic attack trying to learn anything from her when she's in the kind of 'teacher mode' she was with us. So I'm all good, either way."

"That's great!" Ed grinned, reaching out to hug Al again. "It's good to see you moving forward and finding things you like."

"Yeah," Al agreed wryly. "I'm happier this way, too. By the way—maybe your traveling companions didn't notice, but you're growing a beard."

"I'm—?" Eden blinked, then reached up to run his fingers over his chin as Aeris snickered. Sure enough, the blond found a fair number of fairly short, coarse hairs growing there. "Well I'll be damned. I hadn't noticed. Did you, Aeris?"

"You probably need to have more of those little hairs before anyone you were traveling with would have seen it," the brown haired teen replied with a grin. "It's good to see, though. And you're taller now that you mention it—what, maybe five foot five now? Did you even _get_ growing pains?"

"I was walking around like a zombie for over a month," Eden replied dryly. "If no one _else_ noticed anything like that, I sure didn't. Though, issues with my balance could have indicated it. From before, when it first became apparent that Winry could quickly make a suitable leg for me, I felt pains in the mornings when I woke up, but I'm so desensitized to pain that it faded within fifteen minutes to half an hour," he explained.

"Oh. In that case, it's not surprising we really didn't notice," Aeris grinned. "So, let's start enjoying things, since we have a lot to enjoy. We can have a party!" She threw a fist in the air, then made her way to the kitchen to rummage around in it.

"...Should I ask?" Al asked in a dry tone.

"She's always like that," Eden replied dryly.

"And everyone just goes along with her?" Evan asked curiously.

"Just try _not_ going along with her. It won't work," the Turk snorted.

"Well, then...I guess we're having a party, so I should invite my friends," Al said in amusement, moving back to the table to pick up his game system. Eden watched in amazement over Al's shoulder as he sent the invite through the Battle Pets game system. "By the way, Ed, you should use the razor in my bathroom to shave—unless you _want_ to grow a beard?"

"Not really," the older blond replied in faint amusement. "Too much like Hohenheim. I'll go shave, then." He quickly went to the bathroom as he heard Evan ask who Hohenheim was.

Not long after, all the Academy kids started showing up, though Yufi and Mei were the last of them. Not too long after they arrived, so did Anthony, Cloud, and Elena, the last dressed in a full Turk uniform and proudly announcing that she was now 'Riona of the Turks', and had been since first thing in the morning. Aeris' April first party ended up also celebrating Riona's hiring.

 **Notes:**

(1) Her appearance here is similar to the one she had in FFVII, a change she made this time as essentially an act of pride for reaching her goal of joining the Turks at fifteen (she actually has been 15 for a lot longer than I realized until I recently went back and checked the birth date I assigned her). She's now the next youngest to Cissnei, and she's the actual youngest hire who wasn't trained from age six to be a Turk. I called her Riona to follow my pattern for the majority of the Turks' names, and on the premise that the Turks are still a legitimate unit, not about to be disbanded and executed, she'd have a proper 'Turk name' rather than just her own first name with no other data. This also means Tseng's instinct to hire her right then was spot-on, or she'd have had to wait longer to be hired, and she'd have been really, really pissed at Rufus for that.


	76. 71-Moving Forward

**A/N:** Welcome to the literal last chapter! **Please read the notes in bold at the end!**

Moving Forward

Things _did_ change rapidly.

Nothing was terribly overt, but small things were being changed yearly, and Rufus was leading those changes in their governing system. He was at the head of a world power which was no longer a company, but a legitimate country, and because its only enemies were either monsters or terrorists, they had the time they needed to train people properly. Smaller things were being changed as well—the social network had been changed to allow a loan to help people get by and was expected to be paid back. Even that had helped greatly. It now also included medical care, job search assistance, and education for those who couldn't get a job without a certain level of education. Schools had been made public, some formulated after the kind Izumi had been setting up, and others more similar to the Academy.

They had begun switching to an energy system which meant some power was provided by Shinra, and largely for public buildings, but the majority of people's daily needs came from fixtures on their homes for various energy types—solar, wind, water, thermal, or so on.

There were many more Mages and Cetra Healers than there had been, all of them being awakened over the course of the second year after Rufus had begun making changes, mainly so they could help repair the damage to the land as the Reactors had been shut down. Al had become the primary instructor for all the new Mages to truly know what they were doing and how Materia actually functioned, and Evan served as his teacher's assistant. It had begun mostly a joke, as Evan was only just about fourteen then, but he was very enthusiastic and knowledgeable, so people let him help, and he later became a proper teaching assistant, and finally, five years later, he became a teacher himself.

SOLDIER was still the main defense against attack, and while plain Mako infusions weren't quite as effective as the Jenova-cell-imbued ones, they still allowed many of the same skills. The Infantry were being much better-trained thanks to Liam and a few of the Turks who liked teaching combat, and the Turks were pushing their own skills to new levels as a result. They still kept searching for those who had natural talent in combat, not just for SOLDIER, but for other combat groups as well. Even Godo's Guardian Forces had many members by then who weren't Wutain, and his own troops had been sent out to all the 'resort towns' to defend them while the Infantry and Turks were training. Lazard had kept Tseng and Kunzel, and all of their subordinates, plenty busy.

Roy and Riha had surprised everyone when they disappeared for a week both had off—and came back wearing wedding rings. Tseng just rubbed his head tiredly and asked when he was going to have to give the woman pregnancy leave—something else new which Rufus had added to the employee benefits package. She just laughed and told him the verdict was still out on that, but she'd let him know once she actually knew. And no, she wasn't planning to just not return to work if she left for part of her pregnancy term. The rest of the Turks and SOLDIERs found the relationship rather amusing, but they also started doting on the pair, cross-department.

Genesis managed to get his father and two sisters to meet the parents who had raised him for his young life, and while the meeting wasn't the greatest, Kariya at least realized the couple hadn't known the boy they'd taken in had a family still. The meeting of his two families also broke an ice which had always existed between Genesis and his adoptive parents, and they actually also both liked the two girls. Angeal also took Zack and Aeris to meet his mother, citing that because Zack was his protegee, he was like a younger brother to him, and his mother had every right to meet the extra son she'd inherited and said son's steady girlfriend. Well, fiancee by the time Gillian Hewley met the younger pair.

Sephiroth's life had been turned on its head. Without Genesis and Angeal, he would truly have been lost as he tried to adapt to the new family he had. With both Hojo and President Shinra out of the way, the family was free to _be_ a family. He took his father's last name (he had always wanted one, and Sephiroth Valentine was as good a name as any), and Vincent and Lucrecia came out of hiding, openly claiming him, Qliphoth, and Anthony. The result of them doing so meant he had two younger brothers, a mother, and a father, all of them he no longer had to hide. The baby irritated him with all the crying, but that phase didn't last long, and once Qliphoth was starting to crawl and walk—he often got left with the boy. And he didn't mind, because he doted on him, anyway. For the first time, he was happy without _needing_ Genesis and Angeal, though he had no intention of ditching his brothers in all but blood.

Of course, Eden stayed with the Turks, building his family with them. Many had relaxed more with the changes happening and the lack of severe danger to their lives, and Rude, Balto, and even Kariya, had a habit of making sure he got to know them all better. In his family were also Fuery and Izumi, both of whom were registered as Turks, though only the Turks themselves knew that. Even after years, only the Turks knew they were part of their family. Due to the incident with Fuhito, Felicia had become a sister to him in much the same capacity Aeris was, and she had been adopted by the Turks as well, so Gaia's Refuge may as well have been an extension of their unit. Everyone was happy to have Verdot back in Midgar, though, where he could now stay safely, and even properly advise Tseng, as Rufus had given him permission to.

Yufi found she greatly enjoyed her time at the Academy, but she was restless by nature, so Tseng gave her a task to do—go travel around and find other people with energy levels like hers. Mei could go with her, as the other girl had wanted to travel anyway. Illis would be going with them on their trip, and they would be going into both major centers as well as more remote ones people usually skipped over while traveling. The girls ended up finding several of them in their first month. By the time they finished the year-long trip, Yufi was ready to stay put and behave again and they'd found over a hundred people with energy levels like hers and Zack's. With her new-found realization that she shouldn't be breaking laws which made sense, Tseng felt comfortable having her learn to Master Materia with the other hundred and some-odd people she'd found. Needless to say, she was elated.

Eventually, Yufi went home to visit her father, and when she came back, she announced to Tseng that, when she turned sixteen, she was joining the Turks. When he asked her what her father thought of the Princess of Wutai becoming a Turk who would most likely have a very short life span, she replied that he'd found another wife and two more kids who were officially her younger siblings. Because of that, she was free to live her own life, since she didn't have to be the one to carry on any sort of family line—the two adopted kids were already accepted as possible heirs by the majority of Wutains. Tseng was very, very confused by the words, as he hadn't even been aware the Emperor was courting anyone. And Yufi never said who the woman or children were.

Amal—was Amal. He came and went, usually just visiting Mei at random times, but often traded off important information with the Turks and SOLDIERs. There was no one particular trend he followed, and the only thing he did reliably was keep the regions between the Lower Plate Sectors free of monsters. It was clear he preferred to just not be involved with things, but he was watching them closely and didn't seem to see a reason to interfere. Eden told Tseng that was practically a high honor from the man because it meant he didn't feel he _needed_ to intervene, and Tseng took his word for it.

Initially, Gaia's Refuge essentially kept their name and position, but in the background, they were working on their own project with Reeve and Winry, something they were keeping quiet. Rufus and the Turks knew something was in the works, but no one had any idea what—just that Shears and Winry seemed to be the key operatives handling it while Felicia was 'watchdogging' and Reeve was designing cities and technology. The only thing the Turks had really noticed was that 'someone' was helping them keep track of and deal with issues which endangered people, and realized it was Gaia's Refuge only by virtue of being at least visually familiar with the faces of the people doing said helping.

The Turks themselves had a lot of cleaning up to do, dismantling criminal rings, investigating crimes, and stopping crimes in progress. They and SOLDIER had become a different sort of policing group in a few short years. Yes, Rufus still wanted them to investigate and deal with issues within the new government of their fledgling country, but often the method of handling issues wasn't with deadly force, and more and more often, the Turks were actively investigating crimes as mundane as shoplifting or claims of domestic abuse. While some of the Turks needed time to adapt to that, many of them had already been doing similar enough work to that for it to not make much difference. The major point in favor of them doing it was because they were doing it to protect people, not murder them because 'Shinra didn't like them'.

With less requirement to use deadly force came a need for a more refined prison system, which became a nightmare in itself for Rufus, Reeve, and Lazard, as they tried to determine locations and designs of prisons, appropriate prison sentences for types of crimes, and the treatment of the criminals in prison. It was no simple matter, as it could be neither too cruel nor too...user-friendly, for lack of a better term. Immediately, Rufus knew it wouldn't do for criminals to have goods and privileges most of the common civilians didn't have, nor could they provide too little nutrients to them or keep them too isolated from society.

Reeve suggested they make sure their entire population had a certain minimum amount of food and nutrients, as well as housing—and those minimums would be the operating requirements of the prison system as well. On the premise that all civilians would have access to that, it wasn't unreasonable to provide it for the criminals, either. Other things, like access to reading materials, an information network, or any other similar things, were severely limited and monitored by prison staff, and some types of things were never allowed in the prisons. Contraband was a major issue which Turks were often dispatched to deal with, much to their annoyance and Rufus' amusement.

SH

In that way, three years passed before Aeris and Zack decided to get married. Things were going well, and generally, people had gotten happier.

But that day was different from all the others in the last—now nearly four—years, and Eden was practically a nervous wreck as Zack hauled him into the room where, a few minutes ago, Aeris had been screaming in pain. He quickly scanned the room—and found the woman sitting peaceably in the bed with a small baby in her arms. She looked up at him tiredly and smiled, but she didn't move, so Zack pulled Eden to the bed-side and pushed him into the seat there.

 _That_ was when Aeris moved, leaning over to push the bundle of blanket and baby into Eden's arms. He froze, and Aeris chuckled as she said, "Now, bend your arms just like this, and hold her close to you. See, it's not that hard, is it?" She helped him settle, then looked up at him and said, "You and Tseng are her uncles, so you need to meet Jenny. I'm going to kill Tseng for not coming today, though."

"He was called into an emergency meeting because of the disaster at Bone Village," Eden answered in the other man's defense as he stared down at the little girl he held. She was—tiny! Had he really once been so small? And completely helpless?

"I heard about that," Zack said. "Angeal was called as I left. Something about a mudslide that destroyed a huge amount of the region, but brought down some really rare monsters with it, wasn't it?"

"Yeah, they had reported at least three of the kinds we found in the Northern Cave on the path we Cetra took," Eden replied. "Their only saving grace seems to be—a couple dozen of the Moto Tribe who seem to also have come down in it. I'm really confused by some of the photos I saw as I was heading out—I saw ones in red and orange like Deneh and Nanaki, but there were also ones in dark blue and indigo (1). If Deneh and Nanaki hadn't been spending the last few years traveling and meeting people, the Guardian Forces in Bone Village would probably have attacked them instead of working alongside them to fight off the monsters."

"What?" Aeris asked in confusion, her hand resting on Jenny's forehead.

"Yeah, remember how Deneh and Nanaki said they weren't going to go find the rest of the Moto Tribe until the world was safer?" Eden asked her. She gave a small nod. "But I guess 'the world' got tired of waiting for it to be time, and an entire cave system hidden in those mountains just got broken open—the Moto Tribe, monsters, strange plants, and even—well they say they're just humans, but they all have brown hair and green eyes just like yours, so I'd bet they're Cetra. But, they've been underground for so long they have almost pure while, almost sickly skin. Our people need to get out there to deal with the monsters, give people support, and get survivors medical care. And now we need diplomats, too, to deal with the Moto Tribe and the new Cetra."

"I see," she blinked. "In that case, I'll forgive him this time. Jenny, meet your Uncle Eden," she coaxed the baby gently, and her little eyes opened to show very deep blue. "They may stay blue, or they may turn green. Do you realize Zack and I had a baby strangely early after getting married when SOLDIERs are supposedly the next thing to impotent?"

"Did you want a baby?" Eden blinked.

"Of course," she smiled. "I just thought it would take longer."

"Maybe it has something to do with all that energy Zack has," the blond Turk chuckled, and Jenny managed a small smile and happy gurgle. "I mean, he has so much of it that every part of him must have it, too, right?"

"Hey!" Zack stared, but Aeris began giggling.

"We don't know the color of her hair yet, but it's probably going to be dark," the woman said with a grin. "It should start growing in—not this peach fuzz—in a week or so. I hope Jenny will be happy with us."

"Aeris..." Eden began, his gaze wryly amused. She blinked at him, so he told her, "You and Zack are probably the best parents around, and I'm sure any kids you have will be very happy with you. That's not something you need to worry about. Just be yourselves, like you always are. Apparently, babies aren't hard to please."

Aeris blinked at him, then looked at Zack in something like amazement (but he just grinned like a loon), then returned her gaze to Eden again. "Thank you, Eden. You're right—she'll be happy with us." She gave him a wide smile as she lifted her hand off the baby's head and faced the door, where Tseng stood. "So you managed to make it here."

"I didn't have to go to Bone Village yet, just arrange others to go and their tasks while there," he told her. "But I'm sorry I'm so late, anyway."

She stuck her tongue out at him playfully as Zack said, "Great to see you, Tseng. Eden's got Jenny right now, so you'll have to wait your turn. Your loss. But I want to hold Jenny again..." Zack suddenly whined.

"No, Zack. You'll get to hold her plenty later. A lot, later. Because you're going to be going to get her for me every single time she cries for food," Aeris told him, her gaze twinkling. "No matter what time of the day or night it is."

"Awesome!" Zack grinned. "I get to pull all-nighters and hold my Little Flower as much as I want!"

Tseng, who had been peering over Eden's shoulder at Jenny, snorted as Aeris replied, "Of course."

"You two are insane..." Eden answered dryly, but even he was chuckling.

Tseng and Eden stayed for a few hours before handing Jenny to Zack and leaving.

"Welcome home, Jenova," Zack told her softly as he sat beside Aeris on the bed. "We'll make sure you'll have another chance, because after all this time, this is _your_ home, too."

"That's right," Aeris agreed, and Jenny gave another little, happy gurgle.

SH

 _In 0011:_

For several years, changes kept on in the same format as the ones Rufus had already initiated. People were getting together, having families, building lives, and generally getting their lives back on track. Everything was going well, but something was bothering Rufus, and Reeve noticed it during one of their usual planning meetings.

"What's the matter, Rufus? You're usually a lot more focused than you have been tonight," Reeve commented as he poured a glass of mild white wine for the younger man.

With a deep sigh, Rufus rubbed the back of his neck and muttered, "I have a logistical issue I can't work out no matter how hard I try."

"What kind of issue?" the older man asked curiously.

There was a long silence, then Rufus said, "I'm gradually making the governing system transparent so everyone knows what's going on and what's being done. The Infantry and SOLDIER are doing a fantastic job handling the monsters, and even with handling many investigations. I'm sending the Turks on too many mundane tasks they shouldn't have to be dealing with, and I know some are being rubbed the wrong way by that. Even with them and their actions being largely transparent, they have a stigma of working in the shadows, and while there's still a need for that right now, things can't go on that way."

He paused, so Reeve asked, "And what's creating the actual 'logistical issue'?"

"...No matter how I think about it, I've been forcing change upon change on people, but the Turks are a literal symbol of my absolute power, that 'I' am not changing, even though I'm making _them_ do so. They'll never believe the Turks by that name are being as transparent as any other faction in the government, and I can't dissolve the Turks into the Infantry or SOLDIER—if I make them into 'ordinary civilians' and make them work their way up, people will use that to lash out at them, but if I place them in high-ranking positions in already-established units, people will call it 'favoring' and be very unhappy with that. They'll also never truly fit in with largely straight combat units where they don't really have much to 'investigate' outside the mundane things they already don't like. Even if I could keep a couple as bodyguards, it wouldn't be nearly enough to make their presence feasible, and would again place them in a position where they won't be able to use their true strengths or skills," Rufus explained tiredly.

"I'm going to have to let them go, Reeve, even knowing no one will hire them, they'll never fit in anywhere else, and that—I'll be tearing apart their family. I'll have to disband the Turks, without being able to give them any other work to replace it and no way for them to maintain what's most precious to them. No matter how much I don't want to do this—not for myself, either—I just can't justify keeping them, especially not as they are, and I can't really do anything else with them. This will be like—" He fell silent for a minute before sighing and saying, "I feel like I'm betraying them even thinking this, Reeve. I don't know what to do."

"How soon do you think you'll need to let them go?" Reeve asked quietly, gaze sad. He knew Rufus was pained to have to do such a thing, but the toll that would take on the Turks...

Rufus was silent for several long minutes as he stared absently at the wall across from him. Finally, he said, "Less than ten years now, when I make the transition to a more equalized societal structure."

"A more what?" the older man asked as he blinked in surprise and confusion.

"The basic premise of this first phase is that half of every person's wage—mine and yours as much as the common office worker or farmer—would go to making sure everyone has, without exception, sufficient food, shelter, clothing, education, medical care—in all ways—and the same for their families. The other half of their wage is their own money to use for whatever they wish. That by itself will be enough of a change, but with it, I can't keep the Turks, because no one will ever believe the Turks aren't..."

"Manipulating things in the shadows?" Reeve offered, and Rufus nodded. "I like your idea, but if it really means letting the Turks go, there isn't anything you can do except hope someone else hires them. Maybe you'll think of a way to keep them by the time you get there, though. You've still got several years, so...Keep thinking."

With a long sigh, the younger man admitted, "I know, but..."

"It's hard to let go of people who have always been part of your life as far back as you can remember," Reeve agreed. "We've all had to do a lot of adjusting, even without factoring in the changes you've been implementing. It probably is time you sacrificed something the rest of the people would be able to tangibly see, though I wish it wasn't also going to make the Turks suffer. They carry enough burdens without that."

"...What do you think will happen to them when I...I mean, how do you think they'll take it?"

"I can't say for sure, but I don't think they would just give up as soon as you do it. They're resilient, and I think once they got over the initial shock, they would probably start looking for something else to do. I would hope that's the case, anyway."

Rufus shook his head and rubbed his eyes hard. "I don't want to do this...Not to them, not after everything they've sacrificed to give this world a chance."

"I'd be _a lot_ more worried if we didn't have kids like Jenny and her new best friend, Marlene, suddenly going around and taming monsters," Reeve suddenly put in, looking faintly amused. "We still need the Turks in combat positions, and without people like those two young girls, the Turks would be a huge loss to society as well."

"Those...How old are they now?" Rufus asked quietly, seeming dazed and shocked by the change in discussion topic.

"They're eight this year. (2) Things are changing, and not just with your government. I don't know that these changes even _could_ be stopped, or that you should be the one trying to stop them. I'd rather look for ways to change the outcome."

"...I see. In that case, I'll keep thinking."

Rufus and Reeve went on to their other, more usual topics of discussion, that time with Rufus having a better focus than before.

They still had a lot of work to do, and only so long to do it in, but things were looking up, and the world had a very good chance of recovering fully very soon.

 **Notes:**

(1) No, I didn't just pull those two colors (blue and indigo) out of my hat or anything like that. In the wikia data, it says the original plan for Nanaki/Red XIII's time with Hojo had resulted in 'clones' of him which appeared in blue and indigo and later would have helped the group to defeat Hojo/Sephiroth/Jenova. While that plan was scrapped for the official main game of FFVII, I thought it would be an interesting twist if clones of Nanaki being those colors was part of his/the Moto Tribe's base genetic makeup.

(2) Jenny was born around the end of 0003, the same year as Marlene. Marlene is still Dyne's daughter, but Jenny and Marlene went to school together after someone (probably Dyne and his wife) moved so they were living in the same area. By this point, Jenny is actually starting to discover her abilities and getting little bits of memories she's been discussing with her parents in private. The girls being 8; Rufus is aiming for making the above-noted change in 0020, within a year or two of that date.

End of notes

So, this is the official end of Salvation's Hands! Enjoy the Epilogue, and thanks for sticking with me right to the end, everyone! :D

 **By the way...did ANYONE (besides Reishin Amara) ever actually wonder why this story line took two paths (well, three now), and what this ending actually means for Spira? There IS a pre-planned duality (um, triality now?) here, from the time I started writing it.**

 **And feel free to move on to reading Fates of Worlds or Fates of Worlds – Dimensions if you aren't already!**

 **FoWD picks up from Chapter 33 (35 by FFN numbering) of FoW, or 'roughly' from Chapter 68 (73 by FFN numbering) of SH, for anyone who is switching over, so it might be a good idea to remind yourselves of the last thing Ed would know at that point.**


	77. Epilogue-1000 Years Later

**A/N:** Have fun with these cameo appearances! Also, I DO think Felicia/Zirconaide would produce much the same result as what happened to Vincent, but because she's not a corpse, she can still feel and react to things like a normal human, while he can't.

After reading, **let me know if I missed something**!

Epilogue—1000 Years Later

(from 0000/01 — circa 1000)

It was a day like any other. She bounced her legs in her seat while she waited for their teacher to get back with the projector card for the day's presentation. Beside her, Kanu's tail kept batting her side in excitement, and she was only thankful his burning tail tip wasn't going to burn her. His fur was a color like indigo, his mane red, and his eyes an almost eerie color of red, like they were glowing, but the Moto Tribe was always strange that way, being lion-like beings over-all. Of course, like her, Kanu was only about ten in his people's years, so he was maybe only a quarter to a half the size of his parents. In her area, the Midgar Plains, there were members of the Moto Tribe in all four colors—red, orange, blue, and indigo.

She felt a poke on the back of her shoulder and turned to glare at the silver haired boy there, asking, "What do you want, Kadaj?" He was pouting as he sat alone, since his cousins, Yazoo and Loz, hadn't gotten there yet. While his eyes were bright blue, they were slit like a cat's and he had wings in silver, like his hair, but they were hidden right then.

"You promised to help me with our alchemy lessons later, Trisha," Kadaj replied. "You're the best there is in our class—and it's irritating watching you get it so easily."

She sighed in irritation as she brushed a hand through blond bangs and glared at him with golden eyes which looked molten at the moment. "What's 'irritating' is you first saying you want my help, then saying you don't like me knowing what I'm doing. Make up your mind already."

"Hi!" another girl grinned as she plopped down to Kanu's far side. She had brown hair and Lifestream green eyes, but as they watched, she flicked out a tentacle from her hand to muss up Kadaj's hair, then withdrew it like it had never been.

"What was _that_ for, Ifalna?" Kadaj glared at her, trying to straighten his hair.

Kanu was the one who replied mildly, "If you weren't being so mean to Trisha, Ifalna wouldn't have mussed your hair. You know they're sisters in all but blood."

"All right, class, everyone to your seats!" the teacher called from the door, even as two more silver haired boys sat to either side of Kadaj. One was larger and strapping, but he was actually the youngest of the three, and the other was rather effeminate and simply gorgeous, especially since he kept growing his hair long.

As the teacher made her way to the front of the room, everyone stared in awe at the man and woman following her—everyone knew them, they were Vincent Valentine and Felicia Pereld! Those two living legends only rarely stopped by villages anymore, so it was a real treat to get to meet them personally.

But why were they there?

"So, I'm sure you're all wondering why these two left the Midgar Ruins to join our class today," the teacher began. She got a prompt chorus of agreement from the students. When it quieted down, the woman went on, "Vincent and Felicia are the last two living participants in saving this world a thousand years ago. They realized letting their knowledge be forgotten would be harmful to us, so at times, they offer to come speak with classes intending to teach this particular history lesson. I think they were especially intent on today's class because many of you have personal ties to them, even though you haven't met them before."

"I did once," Trisha said as she blushed deep red. "I went into the Ruins because I thought I'd be fine with my alchemy, but there was a _Jabberwock in there_!" The last few words came out more like a whine. "They saved me. I think that's part of why they came here today—to remind me not to be stupid."

Everyone else in the class was staring at her in something like mixed horror and fascination, though Vincent looked faintly amused and Felicia chuckled. "No, that wasn't our reason. Rather, you reminded us of exactly whose genes most of you kids have—trouble magnets the lot of you. That's why you need to realize what we fought for, how we fought, and why we did so. Because it's not just us, it's all your ancestors. We all fought so there would be a world here for you to live on. Eden—Trisha's earliest known ancestor in her line—was instrumental in solving those problems, but he also had a bad habit of attracting trouble to him, without going and looking for it. That means you need to be aware of a faction known as the WRO, or the World Regenesis Organization."

"I thought that was just a legend," Loz said with a frown.

"It's not, we just keep it very quiet these days," Vincent answered that time. "We monitor the state of affairs in the world, check known danger zones, and generally keep an eye on the progression of things. There are a good many things in this world now which you all take for granted—things we needed to _discover_ a thousand years ago. Rufus Shinra and Reeve Tuesti were neither of them fools, and they knew observers would be needed, as well as people fit to act should a danger arise. Normally, that would be in the form of monsters these days, but it wasn't always like that. The former Turks of Shinra became one of the functional units of the WRO when they weren't needed as Turks anymore, and after we did some checking, we found everyone in this room had an ancestor with the Turks, just not all necessarily in the generation of them we worked with. And Turks attract trouble, even if Eden was the worst of them."

"Are you saying we're destined to join the WRO?" Ifalna asked with a deep frown.

"No, not at all," Felicia answered, her gaze amused. "Trisha is on our watch list because she's like Eden in too many ways for it to be healthy, which means you're going to be seeing us or others from the WRO around—all people you wouldn't normally see. Otherwise, to join us or not is your choice. The issue will more be with you having to get used to our interference in your way of doing things, because we have a way of viewing the world which all of you have had no need for."

After a pause, Kanu asked, "So, a history lesson?"

Vincent and Felicia traded looks, then the woman nodded and asked, "All of you should know about Chaos and Omega, and the fact that causing suffering harms the Planet itself, yes?" The students all nodded eagerly, so she said, "Your current society today lives by the belief system that everyone who participates in supporting the community is allowed access to everything society provides. There's no difference between the 'value' of one job and the next, they're all taken as equally valuable. You generally do jobs for the community which you like, and even things like being a student qualify you for any support, no matter what, because learning is a profession in itself. You don't have a need to try to out-do one another, to be cruel to one another to get more than the other person, because your society gives you everything you both need and want, as long as what you want hurts no one." (1)

By then, the students had started to frown in confusion, so Vincent put in, "Do you think we had this kind of society a thousand years ago?" Several of the kids blinked, so he went on, "Felicia is trying to make you think about what you take for granted. We lived in a society where cruelty, starvation, and even slavery, were _common_. I was an unwilling experimental subject to a man who believed everyone in the world existed to further his very cruel scientific experiments. So, too, was Felicia, though her degree of experimentation was less extensive—it was no less unwilling. Everyone had to struggle to get by, and everyone was in danger of losing everything—homes, food, lives. To us—you're all living very good lives. In other circumstances, we would envy you for having what we never did, but the reason you have everything you do is because _we_ desperately wanted you to have it.

"And what you especially need to realize is that, if you let certain kinds of changes happen, you'll end up reinstating that old, harmful system. The lives you have now are privileges you maintain by choosing to stick with the system your parents and community are teaching you, and if you choose not to maintain it, you'll lose it again. It isn't a right, it's something you need to work for—by doing things like what you did a couple weeks ago and telling your older classmate he was a fool for even thinking it was feasible to try to get you younger kids to eat mercury as a 'test of what would happen'. All of you already know mercury is toxic—that test was never valid, and would have been a step in the direction of allowing torture."

All the children sat there, staring in shock at him, until Trisha asked tentatively, "So, how did you make it change if it was so bad?"

"That was where Rufus Shinra came into things," Vincent said simply, which just produced confusion.

"Rufus was the one who systematically changed society over the course of his life—well, over the course of about fifty years of his life," Felicia filled in. "He tore down his own empire, brick by brick, until it had dissolved into the kinds of communities you have now, where you all work together and take care of one another. There were stages to it, which he began by building a social net in case someone stumbled and needed a hand up—they were laid off from their job, for example, meaning they had no work and no way to provide for their family. He gave them somewhere to turn until they had more work. We did our parts by removing truly harmful people from the picture, and more importantly in my case, working to develop safe energy supplies. Even against the power monopoly Rufus' father had a stranglehold on. Your system here mainly operates on solar and wind power, with the new advancement in the Lifestream Mills—all things you really only have because my original group, Gaia's Refuge, _created_ them.

"The second major stage was a half-way between the two forms of society," she went on. "It effectively stated that half of everyone's wages would go towards granting every person in society basic rights—a home, food, clothing, medical care of all kinds, education, and so on. They were basic forms of residences or clothing, but they weren't inappropriate, mere rags, or even uncomfortable, and food was based on nutrition, not on just filling your stomach with starch." Several kids made disgusted faces at the words. "The other half of your income went to 'frivolous things', like getting restaurant meals—those were like eateries today, but you had to pay for your food—gifts, specialty clothes, things like that. It still meant you got more if you had a higher wage."

"It also still meant there was a hierarchy," Vincent threw in. "And that was the thing people, men in particular, were truly resistant to removing."

"But why?" Kadaj asked in something like horror. "If they had kept that system, I wouldn't even be alive right now, because my medical care as a baby was so much!"

Vincent and Felicia traded looks, then the man gave a small sigh and said, "That society was entirely based on the idea of being 'better than' someone else, and to reach the status of said 'better than' by any means necessary. It justified torture, murder, theft, dishonesty, because those were the only ways to get ahead. The Turks were some of the most vile people to exist if you were to look at their job descriptions, but becoming a Turk was also one of the surest ways to be set for life. Take the good, take the bad. They killed, kidnapped, sabotaged—there was almost nothing they hadn't done which was cruel. They got tired of it and began biding their time until they could change it. Living a gentler life after living the life of a Turk isn't easy, though, so their best compromise was to join the WRO when Rufus told them 'the Turks' were a detriment to changing the system."

He paused, then went on, "It hurt them to realize it was true, and they were being cast aside after everything they had done to save the world. I can still remember finding most of them in tears shortly after they were formally dismissed. So many of them had nothing but the Turks—they had just lost their homes and families because there was no life for them to go back to. They could have chosen to undo everything they had done in order to get those lives back, but they didn't."

"Why not?" Trisha asked with a deep, thoughtful frown.

"Because they wanted the future to be better," Felicia answered quietly. All eyes went to her. "They had realized a 'better than' system is only good for boosting egos, not for giving people good lives worth living. When they disappeared, we all thought we would never see them again, until they appeared with the WRO, which was Reeve's brain child and run by his second—some of you might also know the name Winry Rockbell?" She paused as she got resounding agreement to that. "Of course, Shears and I myself were also in charge of operations, and even the running of it, and in a way, it was actually exciting to inherit people as skilled and driven as the Turks.

"Anyway, when I caught up to Tseng, the Director of the Turks, soon after we realized they had made it to the WRO, he said Winry and Reeve had thought far enough ahead to what would happen to the Turks, and had set up the WRO with an investigative branch which would give them back a cohesive life where they could stay together. Even though I had helped Reeve and Winry with it, I hadn't been aware of that fact until it came to light. If it hadn't been for Eden and Winry being so close, the Turks would never have found another place and—most likely would have either scattered or given up and died, or some of both. They set their egos aside, and their selflessness led them to another path they hadn't known they had, all because someone else in their 'community' realized _they_ would need support, too," the woman finished.

"From that, society at large became aware that 'being better than' someone else wasn't always the best path to take," Vincent went on. "Because it became too easy to destroy your life or someone else's in that system, and many people had actually grown fond of the Turks after having been saved by them, they realized they didn't want to see those men and women suffer. Then they realized there were a lot more people besides the Turks who they didn't want to see suffer—family, friends, people they respected. Helping one another and letting go of ego became the best route to take. That wasn't to say there weren't some glitches, and some people were so strongly possessed by mere ego that Felicia had to—return them forcibly to the Lifestream."

"With Zirconaide, right?" Ifalna asked, holding a hand to her ear with a small frown. "Some people being so hurtful was causing pain to the Planet again, so they couldn't just be left. And with Zirconaide, it doesn't actually hurt anyone—it's like flipping a switch and they go from solid to pyreflies in a moment."

"That's right," Felicia agreed. "Several times, I had to run purges of people who just wouldn't move forward on a world close to death, but those were generally not just on people who didn't like the idea of giving up ego, it was because those same people had become violent and were hurting or killing other people. It's okay to have another opinion, but it's not okay to beat someone into thinking the same way as you, or to kill someone because they don't. It's distasteful, but I had to stop that rampant harm, because once they'd done it the first time, they never stopped at just one victim."

"So what's the difference between you killing them and them killing others?" Kanu asked with a puzzled frown.

"And the tough question never fails to come up," Vincent commented wryly to Felicia.

"Difficult, but valid," she returned, then looked at Kanu. "I could say I have some Goddess-given right to judge—because I do—but that's not actually an answer to your question. In basic terms of morality, it _isn't_ different. I'm still killing people, just like they are. What makes it different for me is that my doing so doesn't cause pain, and it doesn't harm the Planet. Not when I'm dealing with small numbers of people, anyway. But that's a technical detail, not a moral, or even a social, one. I stop them, Kanu, because no one else should have to carry the burden of having to. Either way, someone will _have_ to stop them, but I'm already familiar with killing humans, and the mental and emotional damage it causes _me_ is far less than it causes someone who has never killed before."

"That's the same reasoning as the Turks use for why they do the same things," Vincent added. "It was Eden's, it was Tseng's, it was Reno's, it was Riona's. You won't find a Turk whose primary reason for doing those horrible things will be anything but 'I do it so others won't have to'. They may have reasons in addition to that, but most of what they have is simply less of a moral spectrum than the average person, so it doesn't cause them the same level of pain to kill as it would for a normal person. That certainly doesn't make them evil or defective, just different."

"Oh..." the class replied.

"Wait, what's 'less of a moral spectrum'?" Ifalna asked in pure confusion.

Vincent and Felicia blinked, then traded looks before Vincent gave a faint smile and looked back at Ifalna. "People are a strange bunch. Humans, regardless of their genetics, want to be part of a society, but their methods of interaction and what they hope to get out of it vary greatly. You're all taught some things are wrong, like stealing and killing, largely because those things hurt others, which is hardly fair to those other people. However, every person reacts differently to committing those acts. Some people get a surge of adrenaline from stealing and euphoria from succeeding, without ever feeling guilty about it, while others get nervous from the attempt and feel terrible and guilty afterwards, and still others will feel the adrenaline rush from stealing and guilt from having done so."

He paused, then sighed and said, "I used to be a Turk. I can safely say that, while I didn't 'like' to kill, I didn't feel much about doing so. That is...I still felt a sorrow at the loss of the life, and distaste for the act, but I didn't have a complete breakdown, even after the first time I'd killed. I think the Turk who had the strongest negative reaction to killing was Eden—he had a much greater range to his moral spectrum than any other Turk I knew, and what gave him the strength to do what he did was because he had logically assessed the situation and knew there was no other option. And he suffered for doing it—five times while he was a Turk, whether for Shinra or for the WRO, he was put on suicide watch after a mission. Other Turks were saddened or horrified by their missions on occasion, but none needed to be put on suicide watch because—in all honesty, what makes a Turk what they are is the fact that we're _hunters_. Just like a wolf, it doesn't bother us to kill, but method and purpose can cause us pain, and while Eden had what it took to be a hunter, he maintained a depth of caring for life which was shocking."

A long silence followed the words, until Felicia asked, "Anything else?" There was no reply, so she turned to the teacher and said, "You can show the presentation now."

Vincent turned back to the class and added, "We'll be here, in the class, for awhile after the presentation is over, so if you have more questions, come and ask."

To a chorus of agreement, the teacher turned on the projector so everyone could see the three-dimensional images.

Outside the schoolhouse, birds were chirping and the village was bustling, and for the first time in over a century, people were seeing men and women walking around in black suits or white uniforms with the WRO emblem. Past the village in one direction was a wide open, lush, green plain, and in the other direction, there was several yards of grass before the top of a cliff, and below the cliff was equally lush forest. In the middle of the forest was the remains of a massive structure which had once been known as the city of Midgar.

And hidden in the Ruins of Midgar—which was likely the reason the forest hadn't reclaimed it all yet—was the headquarters of the WRO, the 'watchdog organization' Rufus Shinra had so badly wanted to watch over the world.

To that day, they were _still_ watching over the world, guided by the two people who would never age or die, Felicia Pereld and Vincent Valentine, and through those two, they were guided by Minerva directly, as they all worked to fix and maintain the world.

 **Notes:**

(1) No, this system is NOT a trade/barter system. No, it isn't a money system. No, it isn't a slave system. It has no centralized government (or centralized anything, really), but all villages work together to maintain roads and see that everyone has everything they need, meaning it ALSO ISN'T an anarchy. Very few jobs are 8-hour days in this system; most jobs end up being 'on call as needed', leaving people more free time to do things they enjoy than we currently have, AND they're doing a job they simply enjoy doing for the community. By doing a job they enjoy, they advance it without needing any form of competition to push forward change.

No, this is NOT a 'utopia'. People still get hurt, natural disasters still happen, some people choose to perform criminal acts on occasion, and there is no society where emotional stress won't happen. For example, one person likes another but the one they like doesn't return the feeling. Those kinds of things can't be avoided as long as people have free will.

There is no precedent for this type of governing system. The only reasons it currently can't work is because too many people are too focused on trying to one-up others, and most people can't wrap their minds around it because it's a new way of thinking. What this is based on is people choosing to work together and help one another for the sake of helping one another, not to get something out of it. By people choosing to help one another, no centralized government is required to maintain or moderate everything, especially when certain crimes are universally crimes (don't kill, don't steal, don't torture, etc.).

No, this system isn't based on a religion. The list of crimes isn't the same as the Biblical 10 Commandments (or any OTHER religious book), and it isn't based on saying 'everyone must be exactly alike'. It isn't defined as wrong to want a romantic partner of the same gender, but it IS wrong to try to force yourself on someone who doesn't want your attentions, regardless of both parties' respective genders, for example. The former harms no one, the latter harms the one you're trying to force yourself on, and in this kind of society, that's not okay. The other person has the right to say 'no' and to be respected for that choice.

 **Other notes:**

First, assume the named kids are approximately eight years old.

No, I'm never going to clarify who got together with who to produce these kids, other than a few obvious points:

Trisha is obviously Ed's descendant. She's basically a female version of him.

Ifalna is one of Aeris' and Zack's descendants, and in my mind, she's actually one of Jenny's as well—rather than one of Jenny's siblings' descendants, as she had 2 in my head-cannon, them being the 2 Zack and Aeris would have produced without Minerva's request specifically about Jenny. Well, assuming both Aeris and Zack had survived long enough to have kids. But, with Zack's SOLDIER infusions, there was no way they could have had more, and even him having been able to produce 2 (3 with help) was impressive.

Kanu is Deneh's descendant—Nanaki's are in Cosmo Canyon. Which actually means Deneh lives in that village (though she's very, very old and starting to not be so mobile) and no one has realized she ALSO helped save the world, and Vincent and Felicia aren't sharing. :P

Kadaj, Yazoo, and Loz are all Sephiroth's and/or Qliphoth's descendants—my thought is Kadaj is most directly Sephiroth's, and he's the oldest of the three, despite being rather small and delicate (obviously due to his being born sickly—he's not weak now, but is more like Reno in build, very slender, but shorter once he's grown up). Yazoo and Loz are both younger than him, and are his cousins (fraternal twins!) who are most directly related to Qliphoth. Over the last 1000 years, they're all genetically descended from both Sephiroth and Qliphoth, though.

Even though these were the only ones indicated in the 'chapter', the other students in the class would be descended from other Turks—Reno, Illis, Ruluf, Rude, Emma, Riona, 'whatever name Yufi got', and/or others. Mixed into those genetics are genetics for people like Shalua and Shelke, Anthony, Cloud, Tifa, Mei, Al, and many others. Basically, the whole cast is actually represented in a schoolroom of about 20 kids of ages ranging from 5 to 12. The older ones are away on field trips to learn about the various jobs they'll potentially be able to take.

End of notes

AND THAT'S ALL SHE WROTE!

Questions, comments, suggestions, offers, whatever, feel free to send them to me, but I make no promises on adding any more to this already massive story line. I'd have to get a whole lot of requests to create a story line based around this Epilogue, fill in blanks, or move the story forward to the last point of note, related to the very last question I asked at the end of last chapter—which would follow forward from this one. You're welcome to ask me what I mean by that if you're at all interested. :P

If anyone decides to write a fic of this or some sort of spin-off, please let me know so I can read it, too!

Okay, completely done now!


	78. Note

So, Fates of Worlds - Dimensions (FoWD) is now being posted! It will still update on Tuesdays-this is just to kick things off now that I'm pretty sure I've fixed the issue in Fates of Worlds (FoW) and can keep moving forward reasonably well on it. For anyone interested, welcome to the final installation of this massive story line, and happy reading!


	79. Notice

Some ideas have been running around in my head for awhile (I blame Reishin Amara entirely!), so...I'd like my readers' thoughts on whether or not I should **expand on the Catalyst Array series** further ( **or write something else instead** ), and what everyone would be most interested in seeing. To that end, I've **put up a poll (please read the options carefully!)** , which will be **open for several weeks**. **Be aware that I likely won't be posting any other stories until FoWD is done**. Your selections here will just be helping me decide where to focus my attention when my muse for FoWD dies, and depending on the results of this poll, I may post a second one to focus my direction further. **If two choices are too limited for you, pick your top two, then send me a PM with anything else you think I should know.**


	80. Important reminder!

**You need a computer (PC, laptop) to see the poll on my profile page and vote! You can't even see it on mobile!**

Sorry for not remembering to note this in the last notice!


End file.
